The Middle School Friends (MSF) program serves Philadelphia Yearly Meeting by hosting weekend-long gatherings throughout the year focused around themes that are relevant to middle schoolers and the Religious Society of Friends as a whole.
The Middle School Friends program has two main goals. The first is to teach Middle Schoolers about Quakerism and Quaker values through workshops, activities, and positive modeling by volunteer Friendly Presences (FPs). The second is to live Quaker values through providing safe spaces for Middle Schoolers to gather, explore spirituality, grow the community and wrestle with their own concept of self through the often challenging period of life known as Middle School.
It is hoped that by participating in the MSF program, middle school Friends will come away with a better sense of what it means to be Quaker, establish and maintain meaningful relationships with other Quakers their age, develop a sense of possibility for what being Quaker could mean for them in their lives today, and in the future.