I recently spent almost a week in western Massachusetts at a gathering called Quaker Spring. Quaker Spring was conceived as an entirely unprogrammed gathering, where our whole agenda would be Spirit-led, each day’s program being composed in the morning by a small steering group, aptly named the listening committee. The concept of the gathering is…
“Is Capitol Hill Friends a ‘programmed‘ Meeting?” A visitor to the William Penn House asked this yesterday. We explained that Capitol Hill Friends has an hour of unprogrammed worship, but that we also eat dinner together, read the Bible and sing. It makes sense that some Friends around here might imagine that we are a…
Dear Friends, I survived. With God’s help, and grateful for all the prayers that have been sent my direction, I have emerged from a full month with twenty-eight high-school-aged young Friends and three other adult leaders with mind, body an d spirit mostly intact. Overall, my experience with the Quaker Youth Pilgrimage was a very…
Dear Friends, More than usual has happened this past month. The YAF gathering came off without any major hitches, followed by volunteer service in the city of Wichita; I attended Great Plains Yearly Meeting; and, not long after that, I was able to join Friends in Illinois Yearly Meeting for their annual sessions. In the…
Dear Friends of Truth, This past month has been one of intense, final preparations for the Young Adult Friends Gathering that will take place this weekend in Wichita, Kansas. We on the planning committee have juggled the logistics of food preparation and where to purchase necessary supplies; the ins and outs of insurance regulations; putting …
I recently submitted the following report to the Pickett Endowment Grant, which helped make my travels this summer financially possible. I would encourage Friends who have ministry projects that would strengthen the Religious Society of Friends to apply for this grant, and for those with the resources to do so to donate to the grant….
As a result of my contacts with Friends in the wider Religious Society over the past few years, since attending the World Gathering of Young Friends in Lancaster, England, in 2005, I have found myself increasingly drawn into a movement of Young Adult Friends (YAFs). In February of 2007, we met together at Burlington, where…