West youth residential in Street
Young Quakers gathered for an overnight adventure as part of the Quaker Youth Project in the West region. They shared food, community and worship around the theme of transition and bringing in the new. They were very grateful for the warm welcome by Street Meeting House in Somerset.
Initially planned as a camp out at the beautiful orchard behind the meeting house, a yellow weather warning of high winds and rain moved everyone inside! Upon arrival, the warden shared a map for a lovely walk along the River Brue. Thankfully the weather held up, and everyone had a lovely gander along the river admiring the dragonflies and the view of Glastonbury Tor in the distance. Everyone built up a bit of an appetite before returning to the meeting house to make a big roast vegetable pasta and brownies. The food was delicious! The young people did most of the cooking and impressed with their cooking prowess – especially when it came to baking brownies with no scales! Settling down for dinner was certainly one of the highlights of the day as it fostered a real sense of togetherness and purpose.
Playing cooperative drawing and word games helped create an appetite for brownies. After a chocolate fix, the group settled into evening epilogue and reflected on the day and the theme of endings and new beginnings.
Everyone was up bright and early on Sunday morning, and after a quick breakfast, were out playing games in the orchard to liven up for the day. After a good hour of fun, the group joined with Street Sunday Meeting for Worship, with the young people creating flowers with thoughts and reflections on transitions. Once worship ended, there was a hubbub of introductions between the young people and adults in Street Meeting which moved into helping out with the gardening.
It really was a wonderful weekend, and the group was blown away by the welcome and hospitality provided by everyone at Street Meeting House. This was another great residential success for the West Young Quakers, and it felt so important to be able to share time with older Friends in a new setting.