A minute from our clerk (9 April 2020):
The NFN Steering group sends heartfelt, loving greetings to all its members and friends during these difficult times.
As you know we have postponed our annual conference and the AGM until better days , and we hope that those of you who were going to attend will have the opportunity at a future date to join with us. The Steering Group will continue unchanged for the time being, except that Roger Warren Evans will take over responsibility for membership from David Parlett.
To simplify administration, membership will be rolled over until the future AGM and free membership will be offered to any new applicants meanwhile.
We wanted to reassure you that the Steering Group is in good spirits. During these uncertain times we will do our best to stay in touch mainly through our website, by telephone and email. We welcome all your thoughts, reflections, suggestions and questions and are looking forward to a lively exchange of thoughts and experience. Trevor Bending invites us all warmly to contribute to the website.
With your moral support we will keep the network ticking over for now.
Stay safe and well,
Gisela Creed, clerk
The Steering group: Gisela Creed (clerk), Piers Maddox,( treasurer), Trevor Bending, (website), David Parlett, (newsletter), Roger Warren Evans, (membership), David Boulton, Sarah Siddle, Keith Ryecroft, Tim Regan
Nontheist Friends Network 
Non-theist Friends and All,
Found this on a Friends’ Twitter feed:
The @assocPublicArt statue of #MaryDyer at Friends Center practices proper physical distancing for the #COVID pandemic. Meanwhile the garden behind her plinth is coming along nicely. + Reminder: Central #Philly #Quakers worship online for now. #CenterCity #PHLattenTheCurve
And re-Tweeted here – https://twitter.com/scottmacleod
NtF Cheers, Scott Non-theist Friends / atheist Quakers? – https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Nontheist_Friends_(atheist_Quakers%3F)
PS Nontheist Friends & All, #NontheistFriends #AtheistQuakers – Philadelphia Friends Center practices proper physical distancing for #COVID19 pandemic. Meanwhile garden behind her plinth is coming along nicely #Philly #Quakers #PHLattenTheCurve #NtFQuakers https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Nontheist_Friends_(atheist_Quakers%3F) ~ > https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1253803926219964417?s=20
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Thank you Non-Theist Friends…we are indeed, all connected…
Peace Profound Jules
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Hi John, Rosemary, Non-theist Friends, Non-theist Friends’ Network/British Humanists, and All,
Thanks for your emails. I regret that I won’t be able to attend.
As a Quaker (member of the RSOF), sympathetic with non-theistic Friendliness (big F, referring to Quakerism), and atheistic/agnostic Quakerism too, I have some ongoing concerns about language NtF-wise. Returning to the words ‘spiritual,’ ‘worship,’ and ‘religion’ again, and newly “blasphemy,” about which I have concerns (echoing the thinking of NtFriend Anita Bower in quite a few of her emails to this NtF list), I’m interested to see Richard Dawkins mentioning (William?) Penn here at the beginning –
re paranormal religion vs perinormal spirituality … “Richard Dawkins – Spiritual Atheism” https://youtu.be/eCX4vAsRo90
– and who seems EVEN to validate the word spirituality for himself, and his readers and listeners in terms of ‘perinormal’ (‘pre-pathological’???) spiritual atheism.
And regarding the word ‘worship’ too, Dawkins seems to re-cast this word in the context of science here – https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/912674-i-think-that-when-you-consider-the-beauty-of-the – and also affirm it somehow. (This is new for me in my reading of Dawkins).
And regarding re-casting terms spirituality and religion per Dawkins in conversation with Deepak Chopra – “In Theory: Is spirituality ‘worse’ than religious?” https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/opinion/tn-blr-in-theory-is-spirituality-worse-than-religious-20150623-story.html see: “Deepak Chopra, the controversial New Age guru and alternative medicine advocate, with whom Dawkins has had a spat with in the past. Q. What is your opinion of Dawkins’ comments?
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Some interesting comments particularly in the LA times article.
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