Epistle of Junior Yearly Meeting 2011
JYM shares its Epistle with Friends everywhere
To all Friends everywhere: For JYM this year, 106 young people between the ages of sixteen and eighteen gathered for a sunny week in Canterbury from the 30 July to the 6 August as part of the Yearly Meeting Gathering of the Religious Society of Friends in Britain. We explored the theme ‘Developing our faith: How does your direction change your actions?’
The week has been a very challenging one in many ways. The George Gorman lecture inspired us to consider our faith and provoked discussion with Friends of all ages on what we believe. In our Business Meeting, we considered the question ‘How should our faith inform the way we act as a Society?’ There was a strong feeling that our faith should encourage us to act, and not be passive. This led to much questioning of our personal responsibilities and actions.
We explored how the world might develop in the light of inequalities in distribution of resources through our simulation, playing the part of families trying to pay their rent. This showed that people react differently to the pressures of survival, some using cooperation and creative thinking, while others resorted to theft and corruption.
We were energised by Sam Walton’s session on the peace testimony, fittingly described by him as ‘peace tapas’, which gave us the chance to make our own declarations on whatever we felt strongly about.
We felt a part of the whole Gathering, enjoying chances to mix with Friends of all ages, including the epilogue we provided. Inviting other Friends to our chat rooms brought a richness to our discussions that challenged our views further. This was also true for those that attended the Swarthmore lecture, which made change seem possible as individuals and as a Society. It was invigorating to be part of the ‘gathering up the threads’ process, allowing our ideas to feed in to the whole Gathering. We felt that our contributions to the discussions on sustainability were important and were heard.
The ‘do something different’ day was refreshing, and gave us space to reflect on the week so far. It also gave us chances to live adventurously, and spend time with others at the Gathering.
We have gained strength from our worship throughout the week, during sessions, prologues, and epilogues. It was particularly interesting to experience a programmed Meeting for Worship based on experiences of evangelical Quaker Meetings by Friends who had attended the Quaker Youth Pilgrimage in America last year.
A series of social activities helped us to get to know one another and build a community. Strong friendships have formed whilst relaxing in the JYM space which was often full of laughter, music and the chance to play the brilliant Quaker game: ‘Unable, unwilling’. We joined with the Young People’s Programme for a hide and seek type game across the campus called ‘Hunt the Quaker’, with over 20s disguised as members of university staff, joggers and a stack of boxes. It was brilliant to have this chance to make links with younger Friends. These social activities helped to build a welcoming atmosphere where we could gain confidence.
Base groups built on this atmosphere and gave us a platform to discuss our experiences in a small, trusting group, which also helped us to get to know new people.
The week has enriched our sense of belonging to the Society, due in part to our integration with the Gathering throughout the week. It has helped us to reaffirm our faith. Many have said that they will be returning to their Meetings energised, and will be taking their faith out into their lives, inspiring directions for their futures.
