Young Quakers help shape the faith's future
For Quakers, children's voices carry weight alongside those of adults and this weekend that commitment was on display at Britain Yearly Meeting May 2026.
The faith's national gathering, held in London, Northampton and online, heard minutes from several groups of children and young people, including two-year-olds.
Junior Yearly Meeting, a gathering for 15–18-year-old Quakers held in Shropshire earlier this month, also fed into the weekend.
Numbers suggest the faith is growing younger: almost 400 of those registered were attending for the first time, with young adult Quakers among a new wave joining communities across Britain.
Forum for worship, discernment and decision-making
Yearly Meeting serves as a forum for worship, discernment and decision-making on matters affecting the Quaker community. It is open to everyone in the Quaker community, whether a formal member or not.
This May nearly 1,000 Quakers gathered in person across the two venues, with more than 600 registered to join online.
Young Quakers urged the wider community to distinguish between acceptance, which comes from being authentically yourself, and belonging, which flows from shared values.
The gathering came as Quakers acknowledged the world felt "even more frightening and unstable than it did last year." Nevertheless, participants reported deep joy at coming together.
The weekend also marked a significant moment in Quaker history. Meeting for Sufferings, one of the faith's governing bodies, was formally laid down after 350 years of service.
Paul Parker, Recording Clerk for Quakers in Britain, spoke of the work Quakers are doing to challenge the growing suppression of dissent in British public life.
The Quaker tradition of dissent matters now more than ever, he said.
Central to the weekend was a discussion about how passionate, disruptive voices within a community can be held so they can be heard without causing harm.
The epistle (a message sent to Quakers around the world after the gathering) called for spaces "safe not just for the still small voice, but also for the wind, the storms, the power that makes us uncomfortable and which stirs us to action."
Here Yearly Meeting was echoing the voices of younger Quakers at JYM, who, in their minute, said: “It is important to accept that not everyone can find a sense of belonging in every group or community, but that it is crucial for all individuals to have spaces where they do belong."