Brian Blackmore, Director of Quaker Engagement of the Quaker Nobel Peace Prize winning American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), will speak on “Update on AFSC Activities in Hotspots Around the World” on Sunday, January 25 at 9:45 a.m. at the Quaker Meetinghouse, 219 Court Street, Newtown. Worship in expectant silence will follow at 11:00 a.m. All are invited to attend.
Brian will discuss AFSC’s programs and share opportunities for people to get involved in AFSC’s work to promote peace and justice in the U.S. and around the world. He will review AFSC’s humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, its efforts to protect the rights and dignity of immigrant communities in the U.S., its initiatives to create community-safety beyond policing and prisons, and other programs.
The American Friends Service Committee was founded in 1917 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in the United States to provide young Quakers and other conscientious objectors to war with an opportunity to perform a service of love in wartime as an alternative to serving in the military. It received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 “on behalf of Quakers everywhere,” and one of its programs, VISA (Voluntary International Service Assignments), helped provide the inspiration for the Peace Corps launched by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
Brian Blackmore is a member of Gainesville (FL) Monthly Meeting, and a Board member of the Friends Historical Association in Philadelphia. Before coming to AFSC, Brian was the Religious Studies Department Chair and Quaker Worship and Spiritual Life Coordinator at Westtown School in West Chester, PA. He holds an M.A. and S.T.M. from Chicago Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Temple University, with extensive academic research and published writings examining Quaker history.
Newtown Friends Meeting co-founded by “Peaceable Kingdom” painter and Quaker minister, Edward Hicks, in 1815, is open to all who wish to attend. First Day Education classes (Sunday School) for all ages begin at 9:45 a.m. and Meeting for Worship begins at 11 a.m. Childcare is provided.