“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NRSV). 109 YAF Conference Participants  

It’s amazing to see so many young adults being kindled by the spark/fire of our Quaker tradition. Let’s bring the flame back to our home meetings and churches and let our beacons blaze! –Jeffrey Hipp

This was a good starting point: we learned to love each other so we can begin building the coalition we so desire. –Zachary Dutton

I felt overwhelmed by the presence of the Spirit and awed at the many forms in which all of us have lived its testimony. I see so much more breadth to God that I am humbled to have thought I understood so much about the Divine. –Stephanie Speicher

I felt this weekend was an important journey for myself and others. I was challenged, but held, I made mistakes, but was forgiven, and most vitally, I was held accountable to respond to God’s call for me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. –Stephen Dotson

I heard and felt the presence of God speaking into my heart. I was dismantled, and told to go rebuild myself, to be ready to respond with spiritual ability when I am called. –Gavin White

This conference was a gathering of Friends of all types, all branches and it was very encouraging to witness the coming together of Friends, who have been separated for so long. –Benjamin Pressley

It was full of vitality, yearning, loving, urgency and unity. –Cassie Wright

We are a gathered people, covered, held, fragile and whole, “rising up” good and imperfect. –Blake Lipsett

During this meaningful time together it has been reaffirming for me that the Spirit guides us on our path throughout all seasons of the year. –Lilia Fick

It is incredible to feel Spirit with this community, and I feel my horizons of Quakerism feel so much wider and richer, and I am excited to continue this exploration together. –Jane Broadbent

The conference nourished a deep spiritual hunger in me. I didn’t realize how deep this hunger was until I began to taste of the meal shared by all who were present. –Andrew Banks

An opportunity to be challenged to deepen my faith. –Laura Goren

If Friends are faithful to the spirit they found here, if we act that faith out in our lives, there shouldn’t be any fear that Friends’ love and ministry won’t continue for a long, long time. –Cara Curtis

A covered gathering is the result of intentional expectancy of all participants. I felt that here this weekend. –Kate Newlin

I expected to be refocused. I didn’t expect to be transformed. We are called. –Anonymous

We need to be doing this as much as possible to provide enough space and time for all prophetic witness and communion and growth. We are learning how to be free and Truthful and loving…isn’t that awesome?!?! –Greg Elliot

The energy among all those gathered was so uplifting and infectious I felt almost dizzy from the experience. It was amazing. –Anonymous

The opportunity for self discovery was overwhelming. –Kelly Ackerman

It was a great atmosphere for connecting with others personally and spiritually- there was more of a feel of openness than at Burlington. –Joseph Mendoza

It was great to come together and lay aside some of our fears to play, worship, and learn together. –Jonathan Goff

Liberal unprogrammed. Evangelical. Christ centered. Conservative. We all have ideas and stereotypes about what these titles mean, but at this conference the most important thing we learned is that NO ONE fits neatly into a box. –Ruth Lowe

I truly feel like I am living in the Light when we gather here. –John Lavin

An excellent opportunity to build relationships with Friends from all branches, from around the country. –Johanna R

This is a truly awesome experience for any young adult Friend looking for fellowship, support and fun! –Jennifer Bowman

This conference and what happened here was an answer to my prayers. To be able to meet and speak with Friends about community, our faith, and how we are living and how we desire to live our lives, to practice caring for one another and lifting up our concerns and gifts within a gathered and loving group is what I have hoped for myself, for young people, and for the Religious Society of Friends as a while. I pray we will being this energy, Spirit, Love and Knowing back to our communities, religious and secular alike and set the world alight with this life we have found here. We are finding together. –Carly Fritner

I feel continued gatherings like this are so important to our future, as individuals, and a collective society to continue to build community amongst ourselves and work to grow our faith and live faithfully in the world. –Carly Fritner

The YAF conference was one of the most challenging and formative ways for me to connect with the Spirit across the diversity of our faith. One can feel a visceral sense of purpose and Spirit urgently awaiting realization in our generation. –Anonymous

Good work in beginning young adult exploration of trust, fun and interfaith dialogue. –Anonymous

A transformational experience- it exceeded my expectations and failed to meet my fears. –Seth Barch

The conference allowed me to feel and to experience how God’s love is flowing through all of us, and gave me hope about further dialogue and friendships between all of us. –Anonymous

It was a deeply spiritual and transformational experience of fellowship with bright and faithful friends. –Newell Pledger-Shinn

Young Friends are alive and well. –Anonymous

The YAF conference encouraged me to be open to the similarities and diversities among Friends and helped me to really sit with what I believe and why I hold those beliefs. –Katie Terrell

I think YAF’s are a force to be reckoned with, meaning we have a ministry that will die if it is not nurtured. Sorry to be so fatalistic but that’s what I feel. –Tai Amri Spann-Wilson

Through worship and fellowship, I began to see all the work we have ahead of us as a Society, all the work I have ahead in me as a seeker, how difficult that work will be, and how joyous it can become. –Elias Sanchez-Eppler

This is the future of our society, and it’s good. –Nathan Sebens

Young Adult Friends need this. Friends need this. And we are only beginning. -Noah Baker Merrill

Personally challenging and overwhelming, but amazing to see a society growing and lifting each other up. –Becca Ivanoff

A moving experience which challenged me to grow within and reminded us all to live the unity of our family. –Ravi Joshi

If only young people around the globe felt communion with each other such as this, the world would know peace. –Anonymous

I loved every minute of it. –Mac Lemann

Caroline Anderson(This entry was originally posted on the Friends Committee for National Legislation Intern Blog, Of Peace and Politics, and with Caroline's permission is also posted below.)

 

At our staff meeting last Monday folks were understandably upset about some of the shenanigans Congress has gotten into lately. Some of the elder staffers were waxing nostalgic for protest movements set to folk tunes, and I could see visions of Bob Dylan and marches on Washington dancing in their heads.

I didn't want to seem flip about the need to oppose current disastrous policies promoted by Congress and the President, but I also wanted to say (in the most respectful way possible) - snap out of it!

How can we get the message to Congress that what they're doing isn't right? By using the methods of the past? Perhaps. But it's going to be awfully hard to find people who are willing to do it.

Who has the time to protest? Not professionals who are the responsible heads of organizations and companies. They can't be spared for enough time to trek to Washington, or devote hours and hours to protesting outside the district offices of their members of Congress. They simply don't have the time. It is instead the youth that must protest, must take the time to park themselves in front of offices and government buildings, and then follow up that demonstration of opinions by actually voting.

But for the large part, my generation doesn't seem to have the will to take time out of their lives and protest. Why? The country is in an even worse mess than we were in 1968, mired in a war and a slumping economy at the same time. And yet we sit at our desks, or go to class, not taking advantage of our right to assemble and protest this awfulness.

Is it that we don't have opinions on these issues?

No, but we have been taught over the past eight years (when most of us were learning about government and first exercising our right to vote) that what we think doesn't matter. That when we want something to change, it won't. That even when we protest, nothing will change. I was on one of the 6 buses that traveled down to Washington from Bryn Mawr in the spring of 2004 to join the March for Women's Lives. That march seemed full of hope and promise, and I felt that we were going to be listened to, to make a difference. And yet, in the years that followed, almost everything we were protesting against that day happened. It gets a girl a bit discouraged.

I remember that after the 2004 election one of the college freshwomen I was advising reported to me that she reacted to the results of the elections in this manner:

"Caroline, first I cried, then I threw up, and then I cried some more."

This is not the reaction of someone who is apathetic toward the issues. What it is is the reaction of someone who feels helpless, who feels that all she can do is cry and get sick, because her vote and her actions won't make any difference.

As we moved out of college and into the real world, the economy tanked. I think this pushed us even more firmly into offices and safe jobs and away from mass marches. If we turned our backs on employment and steady income to protest or organize we would fall behind, not find another job, be consumed by the tidal waves of the failing economy. The closest I ever came to organizing was canvassing for New Jersey PIRG and the Sierra Club, a job which I took and threw all my energy into for the paycheck as much as for the satisfaction of protecting the environment. We also know that we're pretty much on our own for retirement. We can't count on Social Security or a pension to protect us there.

We also feel deeply angry that the generation who caused global warming is not doing anything to stop it (We mean you President Bush, the House of Representative, and the Senate), leaving us with a problem that threatens our and our children's future.

Ultimately, we're mad as hell, but afraid to do anything about it. When the environment is failing, the military gets more money than education or healthcare and is still over extended, and there's little hope for the economy, the first instinct is to protect ourselves. And that's what we're doing.

Clearly I'm not presenting any solutions here, and my parents' might think that I'm whining about my situation. But darn it. How do you expect young people to work up the will to protest when we are mired in a malaise that seemingly has no end? Also, we can't afford the gas to come to Washington and the national train system is too slow and expensive to do the job.

Query for Friends: How do you witness or protest in your life?

Hey Everyone,
I just wanted to let Friends know about an awesome new pamphlet that the Youth Ministries Committee was involved in publishing. It’s called Coming into Friendship as a Gift: the Journey of a Young Adult Friend, and it’s written by a YAF from Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association. It’s a beautiful account of her journey to Quakerism, and everyone who helped her along the way. She also acknowledges that many YAFs have not had experiences like her own, and that we need to work together as a religious society to create a truly intergenerational, whole spiritual community. At the end of the pamphlet, she gives a number of different examples and suggestions of how monthly meetings can support younger Friends, and how we can all engage with one another. It also includes queries and a resource list. I highly recommend it!

From the back cover, “By naming the gifts she has received from her meetings, Christina Van Regenmorter offers a resource both for younger Friends and for meetings striving to welcome, support and nurture the young people in their midst. Christina notes:

It can be tempting to look at the absence of young faces in our meeting houses and blame it on the ‘digital age’ or on young people needing ‘something more lively.’ However, I would like to hold up the possibility that people coming into Quaker meetings are not looking for a certain prevailing skin phenotype or age presence, but for the Spirit to be evident in the lives of the Friends who are there. I believe that they, like me, ache to have a spiritual community where they feel truly seen, truly held, and deeply challenged.”

Deborah Shaw, the Assistant Director of Friends Center and Campus Ministry at Guilford College writes “If Friends desire their meeting to be a spiritual community where love if the first motion and a place where young Friends feel welcomed, nurtured and supported, prayerful engagement with this text would be a fruitful place to begin.”

Angelina Conti, a Philadelphia YAF says of this book, "As a relatively active young adult Friend I am often asked where all the other young adult Friends are -- what meetings can do to be open, welcoming faith communities where teenagers and young adults feel seen, nurtured, and needed. I am so thankful for this book, its author, and the Youth Ministries Committee for making this story and its accompanying queries and suggestions available. Christina Van Regenmorter's experience is as teachable as it is inspiring, and provides a powerful model for meetings under the weight of youth concerns (while also offering several good tools for young adults themselves). Our meetings are not whole when they lack the presence and ministry of young people, and this pamphlet offers a powerful place to begin to work towards wholeness."

Check it out at http://www.quakerbooks.org/coming_into_friendship_as_a_gift.php

Happy reading! In peace, Emily

YAF Conference 2008: Taken by Ruth Murray

 

For a bigger shot, go to http://www.flickr.com/groups/quakeryouth/pool/

 

| View | Upload your own Hey Friends, This is the awesome skit that Maya Wright wrote for the YAF Conference. Author’s Note: Anyone is welcome and encouraged to re-perform this skit, with or without alterations. Please tell me about it if you do! You can download the skit by clicking on the attachment below. You are also welcome to use the slideshow presentation. Peace to all, Emily

Young Adult Friends’ Conference

Living as Friends, Listening Within

Richmond, Indiana

May 23-26, 2008

Dear Friends Everywhere,

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12:2 NRSV

In worship, in small groups, in conversation, we have been transformed. Friends affirmed their love for one another again and again. The act of coming together physically was a first step to enacting loving unity. We are hungry for connection and growth in grace with one another, and the healing of our divisions. We heard sermons and joined voices in song. Friends had opportunities to experience and participate in unfamiliar forms of worship. We felt the support of seasoned Friends who provided pastoral care and the many Friends that held the gathering in prayer.

Formal small groups gathered every day for checking in and more personal discussion of the challenges and joys of the conference. Small informal groups treasured free time where we found the space to address other concerns. These informal discussions created a foundation for the depth at which we arrived in worship. Earlham School of Religion professors, students, and alumni led workshops, while conference participants held interest groups on various topics. On Sunday, participants could choose between programmed (First Friends), semi-programmed (West Richmond) or unprogrammed (Clear Creek) worship in the community.

In Spirit-led worship we found that Friends spoke to the necessity of continuing in conversations about our similarities and differences. Friends were asked before the conference to consider the cultural norms of others present, and whether certain choices may impact our ability to find common ground. We began exploring scripture together in workshops, Bible study and programmed worship. This invited new challenges and opportunities to engage with texts important to the experience of Friends. We were reminded by Mark Walker that living in unity as a Religious Society of Friends will make us more effective in our work in the world. The discernment of corporate and individual leadings is one of the obligations we have to one another as a Society. We hear the need to acknowledge diverse leadings, such as Gospel, traveling, vocal, and eldering ministries. Recording these gifts is one way of making individuals and meetings accountable to leadings.

Friends heard a call to find ways to share the good news that has been revealed to us at this gathering. We strive to carry this light with us when we return to our home meetings and churches. We have invited one another to our respective yearly gatherings and to explore ways of opening our spiritual homes. May we share with the world the light and love that was a presence at this gathering.

 

In peace,

The YAF Conference Participants