Welcome to the Adult Young Friends info page!

The Adult Young Friends (AYF of FGC) program is a self-led intentional community of Friends ages 18–35 who come together to support, inspire, and challenge each other in our life journeys. We represent a variety of backgrounds, and hail from all over the world of Quakerdom. We meet at all-ages, in-person Gatherings, the Young Adult and Youth (YAY) Gathering, and occasionally at other times during the year.

Participants in AYF are involved in every aspect of Friends General Conference events. The community also hosts a number of AYF specific events throughout the week. We strengthen our community through worship, AYF affinity groups, Meeting for Business, and share in fellowship and celebration. We create a community in which we can grow, bond, and strengthen our connection to our chosen faith. For many of us, the warmth and intentionally of this community is a cornerstone of our participation in Gathering:

A group of mostly young adults, some older folks, mostly wearing some form of purple, standing in a bunch and looking at the camera smiling.
Five young adults in various positions in a field, in the middle of an Ultimate Frisbee game.

The Adult Young Friends program provides such a fun and welcoming community within the larger Gathering. A stranger in the AYF dorm who invited me to breakfast that first year is now my dear friend.

Christy

I truly cannot imagine FGC Gathering without this community. It’s not that my experience would be incomplete without it, but rather that the AYF community IS my experience at Gathering. I come back every year to see the same f/Friends again, and I hope our community continues to change and grow and to have such a lasting year-round impact on so many young adult Quakers.

Liana

How to Participate

Check the AYF program box when you register for the all-ages in-person Gathering or the Young Adult and Youth (YAY) Gathering, and we will send you more information about specific activities as the event nears.

You are welcome to participate in our program to whatever degree you find most beneficial. You can choose to stay in the AYF housing cluster, or you can live in whatever other housing arrangement suits you.

In either case you may attend your choice of AYF activities while still participating in as many of the other program options as time and energy allow. AYF of FGC also has a Discord server to support our communications and connections at and outside of in-person events. You do not have to attend an in order to join the Discord!

The AYF Program needs your support by serving on our committees to help our program thrive at gathering and beyond. Read about the AYF of FGC Committees and reach out to a Coordinator (currently Lucas Meyer-Lee or Elijah Snow-Rackley), or a Nominating Member if you or a friend might feel a calling to serve.

A circle of young adults sitting on a wood floor playing cards and laughing.

Financial Aid

Not sure you can afford to come to Gathering? There are many financial aid options available, including workgrants and general scholarships. Travel grants are available for Friends of Color, and sometimes for Friends from a particular region. Many meetings and other Quaker communities also offer financial support to their members and attenders to enable them to participate in Quaker events. Read more about financial aid and how to apply for it here.

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