Epistle from the New England Yearly Meeting Young Friends

To FRIENDS EVERYWHERE:

Greeting from Young Friends at New England Yearly Meeting Sessions 2002. We gathered at Wheaton College between August 3-8, 2002, in the spirit of our theme: the Saint Francis of Assisi's prayer, Lord.. make me an instrument of your peace. Young Friends (Yfs) explored this theme through program, discussions, song and worship, taking grateful advantage of a wealth of resources offered by our community and the wider yearly meeting. These included a program led by Ken Hamilton on Restorative Justice, discussion of the present situation in Iraq with John Humphries, an afternoon workshop with Yumi Yoneda of the Never Again Campaign and a variety of experiences. We enjoyed a Bible Half Hour of song with the wider meeting led by Annie Patterson and Peter Blood who also came to lead an awesome evening program for YFs.

A perennial topic among YFs is the issue of smoking as we struggle to support those members of our community with nicotine addictions while also considering issues of legality, exclusivity, and the comfort and health of the community as a whole. Young Friends approved a proposal to Youth Programs Committee that included a possible solution with an initial trial period of one year.

Also approved during our business meetings was the slate of new officers and Ministry & Counsel members proposed by our tireless Nominating Committee. Friends voiced many concerns and affirmations during a stressful business meeting, but were able to come to unity with the support of a special "God Squad" (members of the wider meeting who hold our community in the Light). Many felt that the process served to draw together and strengthen the YFs community.

Wheaton College is a new location for NEYM but one that YFs have already become attached to. Young Friends enjoyed the greater availability of space and, considering the oppressive heat, particularly of shade. Young Friends also enjoyed the pool every afternoon and during our Monday evening pool party .In and out of the pool, business meeting and program, YFs, as always, enjoyed spending time in the light of each other's company.

For our traditional Wednesday service project, YFs piled onto busses to spend the day assisting the Audubon Society Oak Knoll Wildlife Refuge with trail maintenance, construction, planting, painting and organizing. We look forward to the possibility of going back in the coming years to see the effects of our work.

Wednesday afternoon and evening and the early hours of Thursday morning were spent preparing for, and thoroughly enjoying, the YF-organized coffeehouse (one of the best ever) and a rocking post-show dance.

Peace & Light, The Young Friends of New England Yearly Meeting

Epistle from the New England Yearly Meeting Junior High Friends

To FRIENDS EVERYWHERE:

As we opened our session this year, many people were excited by the unusual diversity of our Jr. High community. Our wide age range of 11-15 years, and our diversity of cultural backgrounds added to the array of opinions represented. These opinions were expressed in our small groups, where we discussed becoming instruments of God's peace. This was a topic inspired by our yearly meeting theme that was based on the prayer of St. Frances of Assisi. We brought together our personal visions of a peaceful world in a colorful collaboration, later discussing the many paths that could lead to it.

Also exciting this year is our new location, Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.-we're still getting used to some things, such as the buildings without air conditioning. This was important because the weather was sweltering for the first three days. However, Wheaton has a wonderful pool, big and somewhat cold. A refreshing swim proved a great escape for us.

Friends participated in many activities throughout the Sessions. One of these activities was the time honored tradition of "Capture the Flag." Many enjoyed the game even though the smaller location and the heat made it arduous. The vast range of ages made the game very interesting. As in past years, skateboards, scooters, roller blades and bikes were often seen zipping across campus. The exhilaration of wind blowing in your face and the weightlessness as you're flying through the air is balanced by the annoyance of pedestrians. Also on the junior high agenda was the lounge. In the lounge we played pool, ping-pong, and other various games. Music creates the atmosphere, and pizza and other snacks are an attraction. Adding to our fun, Friends were able to engage themselves in discussions about their deepest opinions on life. The lounge is a relaxing and satisfactory ending to an exciting day.

We were not disappointed by the annual events. The junior high field trip was a breath of fresh air. We went to Hopkinton State Park and enjoyed each other's company while swimming, hiking, lounging, and playing games. Another of our favorite yearly meeting'events was the coffee house, an opportunity to share some of ourselves with the community. It was a fun end to the week with interesting and amusing acts. The great talent in our diverse community shone especially brightly this year.

We were sad to leave each other's company, a feeling made especially poignant by the number of strong connections to graduating eighth graders who will be Young Friends next year, but tempered by the expectation of new friends to come. We went home feeling sorry to leave our friends and filled with love. Although some of us cannot sleep in cars, those who can look forward to the needed opportunity as Instruments of Peace, Junior High Friends of New England Yearly Meeting

Epistle from the NEYM Junior Yearly Meeting-third through sixth grade

To FRIENDS EVERYWHERE:

In JYM we usually go into small groups to do games and learn about our theme. This year the theme of our Sessions was Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace which is the first line of the prayer of St. Francis. It is very famous prayer. We've been learning a lot about St. Francis. He was born very, very rich and he fought in a battle. But later he became a pacifist and gathered twelve followers.

We did lots of things. We did a thing called a Peace Chain-6n bright strips of paper we each wrote something about Peace or what Peace means to us. Later, we put them all together in a "chain" and will send it to a different place. We also got to show off our weird talents. We had a pool party that was really fun. You've heard about Anne and Peter Blood-Patterson-the ones who edited Rise Up Singing? They came to visit us! All the JYM groups gathered in one room for a concert. It was very fun and almost everyone sang along.

We had visitors this year. One was from Japan and was a volunteer from the NEVER AGAIN Campaign (an anti-war group). She taught JYM a lot about Japanese. Did you know that Japanese has three alphabets-and one of them has 50,000 characters? Another visitor is going to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa and talked about pollution in the water and the air .

In our business meetings we had two committees presenting business: the Nominating Committee recommended people for different positions, and the Wheels Committee gave safety advice about use of wheeled vehicles like scooters, skateboards, etc. Also, there was the Epistle Committee that wrote this letter.

The people who organized Sessions just happened to pick the very hottest days to meet! . On at least three days sweat was dripping off people.

In Peace,

New England Junior Yearly Meeting Kindergarten, First and Second Graders

Epistle from the NEYM JYM-Kindergarten through second grade

To JUNIOR FRIENDS EVERYWHERE:

New England Yearly Meeting kindergarten, first and second graders' send you greetings!

We met at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts for a week of fun, worship and business in some of the hottest weather of the summer.

The K-2 grades joined the 3-6 grades for singing, worship and special activities. When we were together there were more than 75 children in the room! We really like to sing and learned Make Me An Instrument For Thy Peace, which was also the theme of Yearly Meeting. We heard stories from the Bible in Worship called "Bible 10 Minutes." A concert and the pool party were also lots of fun. Many of us played in the "Capture the Flag" game that is held every year. We wrote or drew our thoughts about peace on brightly colored strips of paper and joined them together to make a "peace chain." We joined ours' with all of the other chains from JYM.

We made friends, learned about being a community and had fun in small groups. We made butterflies, painted rocks, played games, built with Legos, took turns on the balance board, made instruments with quaker oats boxes and used play dough. It was good to go outside again when the weather cooled off-we played parachute games under the trees with one special adult Friend.

We learned and shared in Worship for Business with a different Clerk or Co-Clerks for each day. Visitors from Cuba Yearly Meeting and Japan spent time with us. We learned how to center when we felt fidgety by doing the "Hook-Up" and the "10 Finger Touch."

We hope you have as good a time as we did and send you our wish for peace in the world.

In Peace,

New England Junior Yearly Meeting Kindergarten, First and Second Graders