Wahroonga Friends Bulletin - 25 March 2026
0 views
Skip to first unread message
quiver quaker
Mar 20, 2026, 7:02:18 PMMar 20
to Wahroonga-friends
Wahroonga Friends Bulletin - 25 March 2026 Quaker Pacifist Seized Off Kyiv Street
Quaker and conscientious objector Yurii Sheliazhenko was forcibly detained on the streets of Kyiv yesterday evening and is now being held in military custody.
Supporters say his detention is illegal, carried out without proper legal basis or the procedural safeguards required under Ukrainian law.
Siobhan Haire, deputy recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, said: “We are deeply concerned for the welfare of our friend Yurii Sheliazhenko and we call on the Ukrainian government to respect the rights of conscientious objectors." The general secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement is being held by Ukraine's military conscription authority, the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC).
Ukraine's own Human Rights Commissioner has stated that TCC officers have no legal power to detain citizens without a court order.
TCCs have been criticised by the Ukrainian public and human rights activists for illegal detentions, corruption, and errors in documentation.
Sheliazhenko is believed to have been charged with "justifying Russian aggression", based on a statement that explicitly condemns it.
His case has been raised by UN special rapporteurs on freedom of religion, peaceful assembly, and minority issues.
And Amnesty International flagged it in its 2023 global human rights survey, warning that freedom of expression is under threat in Ukraine.
Quakers in Britain have unequivocally condemned Russia's war of aggression. But they stress that the right to conscientious objection cannot be suspended, even in wartime.
It is guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, treaties to which both Ukraine and Russia are party.
Ukraine and Russia are both party to these agreements, but the right to conscientious objection remains precarious in both states.
Quakers believe there is "that of God" in every person, a belief that has led the movement to oppose war and uphold the right of conscience since its founding in 17th-century England. Read more on Quakers and conscientious objection hereQuaker pacifist seized off Kyiv street
Why Quakers are Celebrating the First
Female Archbishop of Canterbury
Ahead of the installation of Sarah Mullally as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Tim Gee explores how women's ministry absolutely is Biblical. Above - The historic appointment of the first woman to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury has been welcomed by Friends World Committee for Consultation, the global Quaker body.
Read an account of seventeenth century England and it will quickly become clear that the established church and the Quaker movement haven't always been best of friends. At that time, Quakers were distinctive for the fact that both women and men provided ministry and leadership, for which they were widely disparaged by Christians across the spectrum.
Now things are different, and the historic appointment of the first ever woman to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury has been welcomed by both Quakers in Britain and the global Quaker body – Friends World Committee for Consultation – for which I work. Both have been invited to the installation/enthronement.
But even today there is still a rumble (was it even the cause for the man who heckled at St Pauls?) of some Christians asserting that 'women's ministry isn't Biblical'. In many ways it is a re-run of the row about women's ordination in the 1980s and 1990s, and again during the debate about female bishops in the 2000s and 2010s.
So let me say here, loud and clear, that women's ministry absolutely is Biblical. Furthermore there is a very fine history of women leading Christian organisations, including ours.
Made in God's Image
In 1666 the co-founder of Quakerism, Margaret Fell, suffered time in prison for her faith, during which she worked through the Bible from start to finish showing how women's ministry runs right through it. The result, Women's Speaking Justified, has been recently republished by Barclay Press, in a modern English translation. Fell argues that men and women were both made in God's image. From that point on, again and again in Bible book after book, she notes examples of both the people of God, and the church being described in feminine ways, right through to the 'new Jerusalem' of Revelation.
Women play an important role in the Gospels, including Mary, Martha, the woman at the well and the woman with the alabaster jar. Several named women supported Jesus and his ministry including Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna.
Women's Ministry
At the crucifixion, it was women who stood by Jesus, while the men were far off and Mary Magdalene who reported this to the men. It was also women who first learnt of the resurrection and told these things to the men, who didn't believe them at first. If the women had have simply stayed silent, then how would the world have known?
In Acts it is recognised that the time has come when "both sons and daughters will prophesy". We later hear about Priscilla, a female teacher who co-tutored a man. Paul's letters speak warmly of her work, as well as that of other women. In the passages clung to by opponents of women's speaking then, in which Paul calls on women to be silent, he can't be talking about all women.
I can't summarise all Margaret Fell's points in this article. I can commend any Christian brother who opposes women's ministry and perhaps has found this through a Google search or similar to read Women's Speaking Justified in full, and then to open your Bible again and note the examples of Deborah, Huldah, Sara, Anna the prophetess and the four daughters of Philip among others.
A Shared Love of God and Neighbour
I guess some of my historic predecessors would have boycotted such a ceremony as next week's enthronement. Their protest however wouldn't have been based on the new archbishop's gender. As shown, there is ample and significant precedent for women's ministry and leadership. They may well have argued that the ceremony itself seems a long way from the simplicity of the early church, or even pointed out that the word 'archbishop' can't be found in Scripture.
I chose to accept the invitation because I believe peace is more important than Biblical point scoring, and whatever differences I might have are less important than a shared love of God and neighbour. I might add that whatever early Friends' views, they probably wouldn't have been invited anyway. The journey towards inter-church understanding has been significant since then. I don't know Sarah Mullally the person, although I hope that in the course of our roles I will get the opportunity to do so. I do realise however, the symbolism of the moment, and how it relates to the wider Christian body. And when any in the body is honoured, I rejoice also. Why Quakers are celebrating the first female Archbishop of Canterbury Hear- On The Streets: Protest the US-Israeli War on IranOn The Streets is a new podcast by Green Left giving you bite-sized updates about the protest movements and grassroots campaigns across the country. This episode, we discuss more protests against the United States-Israeli illegal war on Iran, and Australia’s involvement. We also discuss upcoming protests to save our forests, hands off Cuba, ending racial discrimination and Green Left’s Ecosocialism Seminar in Gadigal/Sydney. Hear it here On The Streets: Protest the US-Israeli war on Iran
12.30 pm – 2.30 pm
Tuesday 24 March
Sing for a Fossil Free Future
@ Burwood Uniting Church, 134 Burwood Rd, Burwood
Come along & sing with us on video for a Fossil Free Future.
Wear blue and green – the video will help encourage mass sign-on to a multi-faith letter calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. Light refreshments will be served.
For words to the 3 chosen songs, contact Gawaine gawa...@gmail.com or 0425 237 141 See: https://www.arrcc.org.au/fossil_fuel_treaty
If you plan to come, please let us know via the Facebook event: Sydney - sing with us on video for a Fossil Free Future
And why not share the event on your own Facebook page. Please practice the songs before you come. On the day, we'll have the words projected on a screen. This is the set of seven songs and the names of the 3 songs we've chosen: Were You There,All Things Bright And Beautiful,Climate Is Rapidly Changing
We'd love you to support this and bring a friend!
UK Time Thursday 9 April from 19:00-21:00The Big Quaker Quiz On Thursday 9 April from 19:00-21:00, we are holding the first Woodbrooke Big Quaker Quiz! Join Quizmaster Josh Selfe and test your Quaker knowledge against other Friends in this light hearted evening of fun. Featuring puzzles, pictures and Quaker general knowledge, this quiz will test your lateral thinking skills as much as your information retention skills. Assemble your own team of Friends or come alone and meet new people in one of our home-made teams. Find out more and book here The Big Quaker Quiz - Woodbrooke
Save the Date - Yarrahapinni 24 - 27 September
The NSWRM Retreat date has been confirmed: Thursday September 24th to Sunday September 27th. It will be at our usual venue at Yarrahapinni. The program will start late afternoon Thursday and end after lunch Sunday. As in previous years, the program is being organised by Hunter Valley Meeting with participation of Friends across the state. We will be joined by travelling Friend Emily Provance who is likely to make a contribution as well. It's still 6 months away so it's all very early days, but we wanted to let people know so they could save the date. Sheila Keane
March QBC - Palestine and Israel: Understanding Encounters
The March QBC (Quaker Book Club) selection is Palestine and Israel: Understanding Encounters by Max Carter.
If you have never witnessed the Holy Land, this volume will bring you one step closer to humanizing the people behind the news headlines. It is a riveting account of the various developments since the Second Intifada and the struggle for peace in the Holy Land, including the "competing narratives" that stall progress toward justice and peace in Palestine. This book challenges everyone to seek a third way in their approach to the Palestinian-Israeli struggle and contributes significantly to the narration of the Ramallah Friends School history. Read the Friends Journal review, here. Obtain a copy here Palestine and Israel e - Wahroonga Send news of f/Friends and newsletter items to quiver...@yahoo.com.au Agenda items for Business Meeting should be emailed at wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info or handed to a co-clerk. Visit us at "Our Home" First days (Sunday), 9.30 am Meeting for Worship - Wahroonga Friends Meeting, your local peace church. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 59 Boundary Road Wahroonga NSW 2076 Email:wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info Web: Wahroonga Local Meeting | Australia Yearly Meeting A Zoom meeting occurs 9.30 am Sundays Meeting link Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting 918 558 7747 Passcode: 554662 Phone: 02 8015 6011 Please contact Paul Carter if you have any problems.
Quaker and conscientious objector Yurii Sheliazhenko was forcibly detained on the streets of Kyiv yesterday evening and is now being held in military custody.
Supporters say his detention is illegal, carried out without proper legal basis or the procedural safeguards required under Ukrainian law.
Siobhan Haire, deputy recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, said: “We are deeply concerned for the welfare of our friend Yurii Sheliazhenko and we call on the Ukrainian government to respect the rights of conscientious objectors." The general secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement is being held by Ukraine's military conscription authority, the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC).
Ukraine's own Human Rights Commissioner has stated that TCC officers have no legal power to detain citizens without a court order.
TCCs have been criticised by the Ukrainian public and human rights activists for illegal detentions, corruption, and errors in documentation.
Sheliazhenko is believed to have been charged with "justifying Russian aggression", based on a statement that explicitly condemns it.
His case has been raised by UN special rapporteurs on freedom of religion, peaceful assembly, and minority issues.
And Amnesty International flagged it in its 2023 global human rights survey, warning that freedom of expression is under threat in Ukraine.
Quakers in Britain have unequivocally condemned Russia's war of aggression. But they stress that the right to conscientious objection cannot be suspended, even in wartime.
It is guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, treaties to which both Ukraine and Russia are party.
Ukraine and Russia are both party to these agreements, but the right to conscientious objection remains precarious in both states.
Quakers believe there is "that of God" in every person, a belief that has led the movement to oppose war and uphold the right of conscience since its founding in 17th-century England. Read more on Quakers and conscientious objection hereQuaker pacifist seized off Kyiv street
Why Quakers are Celebrating the First
Female Archbishop of Canterbury
Ahead of the installation of Sarah Mullally as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Tim Gee explores how women's ministry absolutely is Biblical. Above - The historic appointment of the first woman to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury has been welcomed by Friends World Committee for Consultation, the global Quaker body.
Read an account of seventeenth century England and it will quickly become clear that the established church and the Quaker movement haven't always been best of friends. At that time, Quakers were distinctive for the fact that both women and men provided ministry and leadership, for which they were widely disparaged by Christians across the spectrum.
Now things are different, and the historic appointment of the first ever woman to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury has been welcomed by both Quakers in Britain and the global Quaker body – Friends World Committee for Consultation – for which I work. Both have been invited to the installation/enthronement.
But even today there is still a rumble (was it even the cause for the man who heckled at St Pauls?) of some Christians asserting that 'women's ministry isn't Biblical'. In many ways it is a re-run of the row about women's ordination in the 1980s and 1990s, and again during the debate about female bishops in the 2000s and 2010s.
So let me say here, loud and clear, that women's ministry absolutely is Biblical. Furthermore there is a very fine history of women leading Christian organisations, including ours.
Made in God's Image
In 1666 the co-founder of Quakerism, Margaret Fell, suffered time in prison for her faith, during which she worked through the Bible from start to finish showing how women's ministry runs right through it. The result, Women's Speaking Justified, has been recently republished by Barclay Press, in a modern English translation. Fell argues that men and women were both made in God's image. From that point on, again and again in Bible book after book, she notes examples of both the people of God, and the church being described in feminine ways, right through to the 'new Jerusalem' of Revelation.
Women play an important role in the Gospels, including Mary, Martha, the woman at the well and the woman with the alabaster jar. Several named women supported Jesus and his ministry including Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna.
Women's Ministry
At the crucifixion, it was women who stood by Jesus, while the men were far off and Mary Magdalene who reported this to the men. It was also women who first learnt of the resurrection and told these things to the men, who didn't believe them at first. If the women had have simply stayed silent, then how would the world have known?
In Acts it is recognised that the time has come when "both sons and daughters will prophesy". We later hear about Priscilla, a female teacher who co-tutored a man. Paul's letters speak warmly of her work, as well as that of other women. In the passages clung to by opponents of women's speaking then, in which Paul calls on women to be silent, he can't be talking about all women.
I can't summarise all Margaret Fell's points in this article. I can commend any Christian brother who opposes women's ministry and perhaps has found this through a Google search or similar to read Women's Speaking Justified in full, and then to open your Bible again and note the examples of Deborah, Huldah, Sara, Anna the prophetess and the four daughters of Philip among others.
A Shared Love of God and Neighbour
I guess some of my historic predecessors would have boycotted such a ceremony as next week's enthronement. Their protest however wouldn't have been based on the new archbishop's gender. As shown, there is ample and significant precedent for women's ministry and leadership. They may well have argued that the ceremony itself seems a long way from the simplicity of the early church, or even pointed out that the word 'archbishop' can't be found in Scripture.
I chose to accept the invitation because I believe peace is more important than Biblical point scoring, and whatever differences I might have are less important than a shared love of God and neighbour. I might add that whatever early Friends' views, they probably wouldn't have been invited anyway. The journey towards inter-church understanding has been significant since then. I don't know Sarah Mullally the person, although I hope that in the course of our roles I will get the opportunity to do so. I do realise however, the symbolism of the moment, and how it relates to the wider Christian body. And when any in the body is honoured, I rejoice also. Why Quakers are celebrating the first female Archbishop of Canterbury Hear- On The Streets: Protest the US-Israeli War on IranOn The Streets is a new podcast by Green Left giving you bite-sized updates about the protest movements and grassroots campaigns across the country. This episode, we discuss more protests against the United States-Israeli illegal war on Iran, and Australia’s involvement. We also discuss upcoming protests to save our forests, hands off Cuba, ending racial discrimination and Green Left’s Ecosocialism Seminar in Gadigal/Sydney. Hear it here On The Streets: Protest the US-Israeli war on Iran
12.30 pm – 2.30 pm
Tuesday 24 March
Sing for a Fossil Free Future
@ Burwood Uniting Church, 134 Burwood Rd, Burwood
Come along & sing with us on video for a Fossil Free Future.
Wear blue and green – the video will help encourage mass sign-on to a multi-faith letter calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. Light refreshments will be served.
For words to the 3 chosen songs, contact Gawaine gawa...@gmail.com or 0425 237 141 See: https://www.arrcc.org.au/fossil_fuel_treaty
If you plan to come, please let us know via the Facebook event: Sydney - sing with us on video for a Fossil Free Future
And why not share the event on your own Facebook page. Please practice the songs before you come. On the day, we'll have the words projected on a screen. This is the set of seven songs and the names of the 3 songs we've chosen: Were You There,All Things Bright And Beautiful,Climate Is Rapidly Changing
We'd love you to support this and bring a friend!
UK Time Thursday 9 April from 19:00-21:00The Big Quaker Quiz On Thursday 9 April from 19:00-21:00, we are holding the first Woodbrooke Big Quaker Quiz! Join Quizmaster Josh Selfe and test your Quaker knowledge against other Friends in this light hearted evening of fun. Featuring puzzles, pictures and Quaker general knowledge, this quiz will test your lateral thinking skills as much as your information retention skills. Assemble your own team of Friends or come alone and meet new people in one of our home-made teams. Find out more and book here The Big Quaker Quiz - Woodbrooke
Save the Date - Yarrahapinni 24 - 27 September
The NSWRM Retreat date has been confirmed: Thursday September 24th to Sunday September 27th. It will be at our usual venue at Yarrahapinni. The program will start late afternoon Thursday and end after lunch Sunday. As in previous years, the program is being organised by Hunter Valley Meeting with participation of Friends across the state. We will be joined by travelling Friend Emily Provance who is likely to make a contribution as well. It's still 6 months away so it's all very early days, but we wanted to let people know so they could save the date. Sheila Keane
March QBC - Palestine and Israel: Understanding Encounters
The March QBC (Quaker Book Club) selection is Palestine and Israel: Understanding Encounters by Max Carter.
If you have never witnessed the Holy Land, this volume will bring you one step closer to humanizing the people behind the news headlines. It is a riveting account of the various developments since the Second Intifada and the struggle for peace in the Holy Land, including the "competing narratives" that stall progress toward justice and peace in Palestine. This book challenges everyone to seek a third way in their approach to the Palestinian-Israeli struggle and contributes significantly to the narration of the Ramallah Friends School history. Read the Friends Journal review, here. Obtain a copy here Palestine and Israel e - Wahroonga Send news of f/Friends and newsletter items to quiver...@yahoo.com.au Agenda items for Business Meeting should be emailed at wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info or handed to a co-clerk. Visit us at "Our Home" First days (Sunday), 9.30 am Meeting for Worship - Wahroonga Friends Meeting, your local peace church. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 59 Boundary Road Wahroonga NSW 2076 Email:wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info Web: Wahroonga Local Meeting | Australia Yearly Meeting A Zoom meeting occurs 9.30 am Sundays Meeting link Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting 918 558 7747 Passcode: 554662 Phone: 02 8015 6011 Please contact Paul Carter if you have any problems.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages