Michael Preston with the Fox Cubs and Penn Friends. Photo: © Britain Yearly Meeting.
Britain Yearly Meeting 2018: Sharing stories
Elinor Smallman explores what children and young people got up to at Yearly Meeting
Themes emphasising the importance of sharing stories and expressing beliefs enabled children and young people to explore issues related to Yearly Meeting’s consideration of Quaker faith & practice (Qf&p) from 4 to 7 May.
There were 160 Friends aged under-eighteen taking part in Yearly Meeting, supported by twenty-nine adult volunteers and five members of staff from Quaker Life. They shared their experiences through minutes and an epistle at a Yearly Meeting session on Monday 7 May.
Fifty-eight fifteen- to eighteen-year-olds took part in Junior Yearly Meeting at the Lee Valley Youth Hostel. They considered the theme ‘Quaker faith in practice: What are our beliefs and how can we express them?’ (see ‘Junior Yearly Meeting 2018: Epistle’).
Celebrating diversity
At the other residential gathering, the Young People’s Programme at Felden Lodge in Hemel Hempstead, thirty-seven eleven- to fifteen-year-olds reflected on a complimentary theme: ‘Young Quakers then and now, within a diverse and changing world.’
In their minute they described looking at the wider theme of Yearly Meeting with Rhiannon Grant, a member of the Book of Discipline Revision Preparation Group, who ‘helped us to get some background and develop our understanding on whether we think Qf&p should be revised.
‘We suggested that there should be more material on diversity, recognising different family situations, refugees, and a wider range of spiritual journeys’.
The Young People’s Programme also learned about the Quaker business method; took part in daily Meeting for Worship, epilogue and base group activities; and travelled to Friends House for Yearly Meeting sessions and to see the Swarthmore Lecture by Chris Alton.
The Swarthmore lecturer also visited Felden Lodge for a follow-up session ‘where we came up with creative solutions to problems, such as personifying planks of wood to combat deforestation, making the steps to buildings five foot high to highlight their inaccessibility for disabled people, or build a cardboard bus shelter’.
The minute concluded: ‘The weekend has allowed us to examine and celebrate diversity. There is room for greater inclusion and we want to have an active role in opening our Society to all, regardless of age, belief or identity.’
Sharing stories
Sixty-five children aged under-eleven took part in programmes hosted at Friends House, which all shared the theme: ‘Sharing our Quaker stories.’
In a lively weekend filled with creative activities like biscuit decorating, painting, music and dance, the New Shoots, aged under-two, ‘built friendships, told stories from Quaker faith & practice, had quiet time together, slept, sung, explored, and developed community’.
The Fox Cubs, aged between three and five, began exploring personal stories with the book Perfectly Norman ‘which helped us think about respecting people for who they are’ and then ‘shared our own stories using something special that we had brought from home’.
The Penn Friends, aged from five to nine, ‘ran a nominations session, in which we focused on speaking truthfully, respecting others, and seeing people’s skills’. They also wrote in journals and ‘created our own stories to share with the Yearly Meeting’, which included ‘experiences of Meeting for Worship, creative writing, and paintings’.
Children of all ages delved into Quaker stories, with the Fox Cubs saying ‘we looked at the red meeting book and found out what the adults in the big meeting were talking about’.
The Spiritual Adventurers, aged between nine and eleven, minuted: ‘We had a thoughtful time looking at quotes from Quaker faith & practice and it was nice that we got to have a say. We shared our own Quaker stories in many different ways and had a go at making our own original stories. Stories are always changing. We explored the language we use to talk about what we believe in…
‘In worship and meditation, we used postcards and special objects to share our Quaker stories. The silence helped us feel connected.’
Visitors
Another highlight for the Spiritual Adventurers was hearing from new people: ‘We enjoyed meeting with the younger children and having visitors. We appreciated making connections with the rest of Yearly Meeting.’
Guests included Melinda Wenner Bradley, from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, who shared a ‘Faith and Play’ story. The Penn Friends said: ‘We discovered that we all have gifts to share, and did an activity to explore our gifts.’
Sam Walton, from Quaker Peace & Social Witness, also visited and the Penn Friends minuted that he told his ‘story about trying to stop the bombing of Yemen, where his Friend Ahmed lives, and we wrote letters to Ahmed sending our message of support and hope’.
A juggling lesson from Michael Preston, of the Communication and Services department at Friends House, was shared by the Penn Friends, who reflected that ‘we all learnt something new and we all tried our best’.
The New Shoots quoted children’s television presenter Mr Tumble in the conclusion to their minute: ‘I say goodbye, I’m happy that you came, I say goodbye… Please come back again!’
The minutes are available in full at: www.quaker.org.uk/ym/documents
