Banbury area Quakers to host author and activist at upcoming annual meeting

The Banbury and Evesham area Quaker annual meeting will be held online this year at 3pm on Sunday June 20.

The talk during the Quaker's annual meeting will be given by writer, academic and activist Alastair McIntosh.

The local Quakers meeting, usually held at the historic Adderbury Meeting House, will for the second year be taking place on Zoom.

Alistair said: "With the title 'Riding the Climate Storm: the Climate Crisis and Survival of Being', the talk addresses climate change, the most pressing problem at this stage in the evolution of our life on earth.

"We have reached a point where we are faced with emergent crushing implications of what it means to be human. Either we advance in our humanity, or we create an ever more tragic future.”

Other issues which will be covered during the talk include: What are the burning issues and their causes? On what precipice does humankind stand? Many spiritual and religious people, including Quakers, have a history of activism directed towards changing consciousness, as do others. The talk questions what might be people be called to do, and how they can be an effective witness in these times.

Alastair McIntosh is a member of Glasgow Quaker Meeting and the author of books including Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power, Poacher’s Pilgrimage: an Island Journey and most recently, Riders on the Storm: the Climate Crisis and the Survival of Being, described by Michael E. Mann as “a climate primer for our times” and by Jonathon Porritt as “imbued with the deepest hope for a better world.” He is an honorary professor at Glasgow University and a founding trustee of The GalGael Trust in Glasgow, which works with urban poverty.

Anyone is welcome at the online public talk organised by Banbury and Evesham Quakers. There will be a chance to ask questions at the end of the talk, and then for further discussion and chat in online breakout rooms.

The event is free of charge, but donations to support Alastair’s work would be welcome. To find out more and to book a place, go to https://bit.ly/AdderburyGathering2021. Zoom details will be sent out to all bookers.

The annual outreach event called The Adderbury Gathering is usually held in the historic Adderbury Quaker Meeting House, which is one of the oldest in the country, having been built in 1675.