The following Epistle was provided by Piedmont Friends Yearly Meeting Young Friends. These Young Friends reflect on their recent gathering in North Carolina. They share experiences of community, Quaker faith, and time spent together.
To Friends Everywhere,
The youth of Piedmont Friends Yearly Meeting and Fellowship gathered together at Haw River State Park in Guilford County, North Carolina, on the weekend of June 5-7.
To start with, we participated in intergenerational games to connect with the other people in the yearly meeting.
On Saturday morning, we enjoyed the peace of canoeing in the sunshine with an interesting musical soundtrack in the background. On Saturday afternoon, Traci Hjelt-Sullivan led us in an activity called “Ten Chairs of Inequality,” where we learned about how unequally resources are distributed in the world and how we might relate to it.
On Saturday evening, we had a good conversation about what things we are passionate about and what Quakerism means to us. We also talked about how and why we might share our experience of Quakerism without forcing it on people. We danced on Saturday evening and then went to the campfire and sang Christmas carols and some jazz tunes.
It has been wonderful to connect with our community and to get to know each other better. We took advantage of self-space, in which we were each able to find ways to rest and recharge.
Some Friends went to the pool, some went fishing, some rested, and others played games. One Friend taught us the card game Cabo, and we had a lot of fun playing it. We really enjoyed this facility. It was comfortable and provided enough space for us, although we realized we should ask for an indoor space to be set aside for our activities.
Thank you to Piedmont Friends for making this gathering happen. We are grateful to have this time together and look forward to seeing one another again soon.
With love,
Teens: Jeffrey, Kerry, Cyrus, Scott, Rosie, Mae, Clem, Mike
Adults: Andrew, Mary Linda, Shay, Mark
