Backhouse Lectures
(Image: Fiona Gardener, 2020 Backhouse Lecturer)
The Backhouse Lectures are public lectures on contemporary issues delivered annually at the national gathering of Quakers in Australia. They were initiated by Australia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) on its establishment in 1964. Friends from both Australia and overseas have presented lectures.
Print copies of the Lectures from 2008-2020 (excluding the 2017 Lecture) can be purchased at Quaker Publications.
Most can be downloaded in pdf format (excluding the current year's lecture and the 2017 Lecture).
You can view the 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and the 2020 Backhouse Lectures on the Quakers Australia YouTube channel here.
2020 Lecture - The 2020 Backhouse Lecture, Seeking Union with Spirit: Experiences of Spiritual Journeys, was presented by Fiona Gardner on Monday 6 July at 7.15pm via Zoom. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, our Yearly Meeting plans were altered, so Yearly Meeting 2020 was a virtual event, heldvia Zoom and other technology. The Lecture publication is available for purchase through Interactive Publications.
2019 Lecture - The 2019 Backhouse Lecture by Jason MacLeod, was presented on 8 July at the Farrall Centre at The Friends' School in Hobart Tasmania. Entitled Animating Freedom: accompanying the West Papuan struggle, Jason shared what he has learnt about accompanying West Papuans – and to a lesser extent Aboriginal people, Bougainvillians and East Timorese – in their struggle for self-determination. More information can be found here.
2018 Lecture - An Encounter between Quaker Mysticism and Taoism in Everyday Life by Cho-Nyon Kim.
Cho-Nyon Kim explores his spiritual journey in the Korean religious environment, in which Confucianism, Buddhism. Taoism and Christianity have all influenced cultural practice and been integrated into daily life. Cho-Nyon Kim is inspired by the life and thoughts of Ham Sok Hon, a prominent Korean peace activist and Quaker. He asks how we can live a simple life in a complex world. The Lecture was delivered on 9 July at Yearly Meeting 2018 at Avondale College, Cooranbong, New South Wales:
the Video available here
a transcription (in PDF) of the video can be found here and can be opened and read whilst listening to the video version
the Lecture publication can be ordered here
2017 Lecture - Reflections on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum in the context of two Aboriginal life stories - with David Carline, supported by Cheryl Buchanan (Please note that there was no printed version of the 2017 Lecture, rather an extended report was written by the Backhouse Lecture committee.) Video available here.
2016 Lecture - Everyday Prophets - by Margery Post Abbott - Video available here
2015 Lecture - This We Can Do: Quaker faith in action through the Alternatives to Violence Project - by Sally Herzfeld and Alternatives to Violence Project Members
2014 Lecture - Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness; Bringing children into the centre of Quaker life and worship - by Tracy Bourne
2013 Lecture - A Quaker astronomer reflects: Can a scientist also be religious - by Jocelyn Bell Burnell
2012 Lecture - From the inside out: Observations on Quaker work at the United Nations - by David Atwood
2011 Lecture - A demanding and uncertain adventure: Exploration of a concern for Earth restoration and how we must live to pass on to our children - and their children, and all living things - an Earth restored - by Rosemary (Rowe) Morrow
2010 Lecture - Finding our voice Our truth, community and journey as Australian Young Friends
2009 Lecture - The Quaking Meeting Transforming our selves, our meetings and the more-than-human world - by Helen Gould - MP3 available here (65.5KB)
2008 Lecture - Faith, hope and doubt in times of uncertainty Combining the realms of scientific and spiritual inquiry - by George Ellis - MP3 available here (65.5KB)
2007 Lecture - Support for our true selves - Nurturing the space where leadings flow - by Jenny Spinks - MP3 available here (6.63MB)
2006 Lecture - One Heart and a Wrong Spirit: The Religious Society of Friends and Colonial Racism - Polly O. (Daksi) Walker
2005 Lecture - Peace is a Struggle - David Johnson
2004 Lecture - Growing a Fruitful Friendship - A Garden Walk - by Ute Caspers - MP3 available here (3MB)
2003 Lecture - Respecting the Rights of Children and Young People: A New Perspective on Quaker Faith and Practice - by Helen Bayes - MP3 available here (5.1MB)
2002 Lecture - To Do Justly, And To Love Mercy: learning from Quaker service - by Mark Deasey - MP3 available here (66.82KB)
2001 Lecture - Reconciling Opposites: Reflections on peacemaking in South Africa - by Hendrik W van der Merwe - MP3 available here (65.49KB)
2000 Lecture - To Learn A New Song: A Quaker Contribution Towards Real Reconciliation with the Earth and its Peoples - by Susannah Kay Brindle - MP3 available here (5.34MB)
1999 Lecture - Myth and Stories, Lies and Truth - by Norman Talbot
1998 Lecture - Embraced by Other Selves: Enriching personal nature through group interaction - by Charles Stevenson - MP3 available here (3.4MB)
1997 Lecture - Learning of one another The Quaker encounter with other cultures and religions - by Richard G. Meredith - MP3 available here (65.5KB)
1996 Lecture - Our Children, our Partners A new vision for social action in the 21st century - by Elise Boulding
1995 Lecture - Emerging Currents in the Asia-Pacific - by Donna Kyle Anderton & Barbara Baker Bird Bangkok, Thailand - MP3 availble here (65.49KB)
1994 Lecture - As the Mirror Burns Making a Film about Vietnam - by Di Bretherton
1993 Lecture - Living the Way Quaker spirituality and community - by Ursula Jane O'Shea
1992 - No Lecture given.
1991 Lecture - Loving the Distances Between: Racism, Culture and Spirituality - by David James and Jillian Wychel
1990 Lecture - Quakers in Politics: Pragmatism or Principle? - by Jo Vallentine and Peter D. Jones
1989 Lecture - A New-Born Sense of Dignity and Freedom - by Erica Fisher
1988 Lecture - Creative Conflict - by David Purnell
1987 Lecture - The Vision That Connects - Building The Future We Choose - by Carol and Dougald McLean
1986 Lecture - Looking for Meanings of My A-Bomb Experience in Nagasaki - by Susumu Ishitani
1985 Lecture - For All The Saints - by Gerald Priestland
1984 Lecture - Pilgrims for Justice and Peace - by Peter D. Jones
1983 Lecture - An Adventure into Feminism with Friends - by Sabine Willis
1982 Lecture - Celebration: A Missing Element in Quaker Worship - by John Ormerod Greenwood
1981 Lecture - What Jesus Means To Me: Jesus the Liberator - by Roger C. Wilson
1980 Lecture - Quakers and Sacramental History: Reflections on Quaker Saints by a Quaker Sinner - by Hector Kinloch
1979 Lecture - Quakers in the Modern World: The Relevance of Quaker Beliefs to the Problems of the Modern World - by J. Duncan Wood
1978 Lecture - Wisdom: The Inner Teacher - by Margaret Wilkinson
1977 Lecture - Papua New Guinea: Third World on our doorstep - by Mary Woodward
1976 Lecture - Imperialism Without Invading Armies: peace, justice and the multinationals in Southeast Asia - by Stewart and Charlotte Meacham
1975 Lecture - A Time To Reap, A Time To Sow: Retirement - by Winifred A. M McNaughton
1973 Lecture - Pilgrimage Toward The Fountainhead: Quakerism and Zen Buddhism Today - by Yukio Irie (August)
1973 Lecture - Friends and Other Faiths - by Otto B. Van Sprenkel
1972 Lecture - The Quaker Message: a Personal Affirmation - L. Hugh Doncaster
1971 - No Backhouse Lecture was given this year; instead, David Hodgkin gave an address under the title "Quakerism-A Mature Religion for Today", which was printed but not as a James Backhouse Lecture.
1970 Lecture - Security for Australia? - by Keith A. W. Crook
1969 Lecture - Toward a Multi-Racial Society - by A. Barrie Pittock
1968 Lecture - In The Spirit of the Family - William N. Oats
1967 Lecture - On Being Present Where You Are - by Douglas V Steere
1966 Lecture - Seeking In An Age Of Imbalance - by Rudolf Lemberg
1965 Lecture - The Shaping Spirit - by Clive Sansom
1964 Lecture - The Evolutionary Potential Of Quakerism - by Kenneth E. Boulding
