Young Adult Friends – Forming a Community of Practice

Conversation Circles: May 16 & 18, 2023

Young adults have been at the heart of quakerism since the time of George Fox and the Valiant Sixty, often calling the Society of Friends forward, and engaging meetings in social change. This time of emergence is ripe for welcoming young adults, both those who have grown up as Quakers and those seeking community that resonates with their experience of the Divine. 

In this conversation we will gather as young adults, and Friends who coordinate programming with young adults to share experience, ideas, and questions about welcoming, and fully including young adults in Quaker meetings. We hope to nurture a community of practice to help monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings reach out to young adults, appreciate their gifts, respond to their needs and leadings, and open the way for their leadership.   

Queries:

• What are young adults yearning for from my Quaker community?

• How are Friends learning about and addressing the current needs of young adults?

• What opportunities do our meetings offer for young adults to gather with each other?

• What are the opportunities for young adults to explore Quaker faith and practice in the context of the Meeting community?

• How are Friends supporting the emergent leadership of young adults in the Society of Friends?

Conversation Starters:

• Kimani Keaton, Special Projects Coordinator, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 
• Beth Kelly, Children, Youth and Young Adults Community Director, New York Yearly Meeting
• Rachael Carter, Quaker Voluntary Service Coordinator, Philadelphia 
• Matt Rosen, Oxford Meeting Young Friends Group, Britain Yearly Meeting

Facilitators: 

• Andrew Wright, Youth and Children’s Ministries Coordinator, Durham Friends Meeting, NCYMC
• Christel Jorgenson, Friends Meeting of Cambridge, NEYM

RESOURCES: 

Books: 

• Spirit Rising — Young Quaker Voices, by Angelina Conti, Cara Curtis, Wess Daniels, John Lomuria, Emma Condori, Harriet Hart, et al

• New Children of the Light, Maurine Pyle

QuakerSpeak Videos:

• Supporting Young Adult Friends in Their Leadings
• My Experience as a Young Adult Quaker
• Staying Engaged as a Young Adult Quaker  
• What Brought Me to Quakerism?

Online Resources:

• Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Young Adult Friends webpage
• Young Adult Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/YAQNET/
• Quaker Voluntary Service

Learn more: Visit the QREC Resource Library and subscribe to our announcements