I first encountered the Quakers seeing the Meeting House sign in Croydon going around the roundabout on the way back from family. I always thought that seems interesting and a bit peculiar but never really looked into it more than that!

But as I grew older, I’ve always felt that I’ve been looking for a spiritual home but never found an organisation that was spoke to me and my values. Whilst I was brought up “culturally Christian”, there’s always been something holding me back from “mainstream” Christianity, despite attempts to connect with it. I often found it impersonal and surprisingly unforgiving.

It was whilst doing a legal research project on weddings in my mid 20s that I came across the Quakers again. Their stance on marriage and their unique historical exemptions in this space reignited my interest in them.

As a result, I attended a number of Quaker Quest courses and started to dip my toe into Quaker worship, but for one reason or another never really committed to a local meeting before the pandemic hit.