Summer fun and connections for young Quakers
As the new school year gets underway, young Quakers are looking back on summer residentials spent with friends old and new, expanding their understanding of Quaker life and beliefs.
With attendance back to pre-pandemic levels, nearly 300 young Quakers aged 11-18 attended the five August events across the country, from the Lake District to Reading.
Many of these events take place in Quaker schools, including Bootham and Ackworth, where the young people enjoy talks, worship and social activities, from pool to themed discos, together.
Epistles from Junior Gathering and Senior Conference show young Quakers upholding all life and identities, and how to manage differences and move forward as a society.
"Our experiences are all connected; our oppression, our pain, and our privilege are all entangled in a web of power systems and hierarchies which make up our society," Senior Conference writes.
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Our experiences are all connected
- Senior Conference Epistle
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“In order to be liberated, these systems which oppress so many must be deconstructed. However, it is not just systems which must change: we all have a part to play in society's evolution."
At Yorkshire Friends' Holiday School young people enjoyed sessions including The Game, where they had to campaign to replace a prime minister incapacitated by cheese, and Potted Sports, essentially a giant water fight.
On a more serious note, they heard from the York Travellers Trust. “This was an extremely valuable session for examining our biases and the effect that laws can have on the living situations of those in society we often ignore," they recorded in their epistle.
Some of these events, including Summer Shindig and Yorkshire Friends' Holiday School, have been running for more than 50 years, and young Quakers who attend say they discover a space where they are accepted and can express themselves.
“Everyone felt more accepted and included than they do generally in situations such as school," Junior Gathering reported in their epistle.
Senior Conference observed: “A fellowship grounded in love and mutual acceptance is created which extends beyond the short time here at Conference."