European Friends consider ‘The Adventures of Life’
All-Age Gathering marks thirty year anniversary
One hundred and sixteen Friends gathered at Haus Venusberg in Bonn, Germany, between 30 July and 6 August for a European and Middle East Young Friends (EMEYF) All-Age Gathering.
EMEYF was started by Young Adult Friends in the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) Europe and Middle East Section around thirty years ago, and the gathering was held to celebrate the anniversary. The theme of the week was ‘The Adventures of Life’, with workshops focusing on childhood, youth, adulthood, old age, and death and beyond.
Tas Cooper, who attended the Gathering, told the Friend that participants dealt with questions such as: ‘What was most important to you as a teenager? How do the changes of young adulthood shape who we are? Does our faith change as we mature? How do we feel about death and what comes beyond? They challenged us to reflect on our past and future, while at the same time allowing us to learn from one another’s experiences, memories, hopes and expectations.’
Tas said the highlights for him were the singing group every morning, and entertainments most evenings: ‘a wonderful ceilidh, a talent show, a hilarious “silent film”-style piece of theatre, a campfire on which we cooked marshmallows and s’mores on sticks and three “Quaker Western” films – a surprisingly large genre!’
Tas said: ‘The various talks and workshops really got me thinking, particularly a lecture on “the value of liberal Quakerism” by a Polish Friend, and Jenny McCarthy’s workshop on the world family of Friends, which quickly turned into a theological debate.’
(See ‘Meeting in Bonn’ by Evelyn Shire)
