Frequently Asked Questions

If you've already paid us a deposit, you can mail us the check from your meeting--or, you may simply bring it with you to the Gathering. If you expect your meeting's check to serve as your deposit, please mail it to the FGC office within 14 days of your registration.

Checks should be made out to "Friends General Conference," with a note in the memo line that includes the name of the person who is being paid for, and the word "Gathering."

The FGC office mailing address is 1216 Arch St, 2B, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

Because we offer 57 workshops at the Gathering and because we have a small staff, we are unable to maintain waitlists for workshops. There are two ways to get into a currently Full workshop:

(1) Monitor the Gathering workshops webpage. When the workshop you want no longer shows as FULL, email or call Gathering staff to request a change. We will then get back to you in a couple days to confirm whether or not you have been moved into your desired workshop. (Because workshop assignments are not instantaneous, if the web shows that a workshop is not full this does NOT guarantee that there will still be room open for you when you contact us.) After May 31, we will no longer accept workshop change requests in the Philadelphia office. The next opportunity to change your workshop will be at the Gathering itself.

(2) When you arrive at the Gathering, go to the Workshops table. The workshops committee will have up-to-date registration information for all workshops.

The answer to this question can be a little complicated. It really depends on both the ages of the children and how far apart in age they are. Infants and young toddlers are often grouped together - if there are not too many of them. Other preschoolers are grouped together - but we usually have a separate group just for kindergartners. First through fourth graders are divided into groups of equal numbers based on both age and their school grade. The 5th and 6th graders are together in our "middle school group" which we call Group J. The 7th and 8th graders are together in K Group.

Our very youngest - our newborns - are called Group A. Toddlers are group B. Young preschoolers (ages 2 - 3 usually) are Group C. Older preschoolers (age 4 - or even 5's who have not attended kindergarten) are Group D. Kindergarteners are Group E. Then it gets a little complicated. Elementary age groups will be composed of children similar in age and grade, balanced for group size. For example, if we have large numbers of 1st graders, there may be two groups. If we don't have many 2nd or 3rd graders they may be combined. These are usually called Groups F, G. H & I. Our 5th and 6th graders are collectively called Group J - but divide into two workshop groups in the mornings, and several smaller groups in the evenings. 7th and 8th graders call themselves K Group: they like to be different! They will divide into several workshops in the morning and also into smaller groups in the evenings.

Part-time attendance is not allowed for Junior Gathering participants, as we feel that it could be detrimental to the community the groups create throughout the week. So, no. Attendance Tuesday through Thursday, Monday through Wednesday, Sunday through Thursday or any other part-time configuration is not conducive to the community-building that is such a great part of Junior Gathering.

If your travel plans require you to arrive late Sunday evening or Monday morning, please be sure to let us know so the Group leader can make sure your child feels a warm welcome on arrival! We encourage all families to stay for the full week; however, again, if your travel plans require you to leave on Friday afternoon, be sure to let your child's group leader know this, so your child will have a time to say a proper goodbye.

Although there are no official Junior Gathering activities during the afternoons, there are a variety of activities for children and their parents to participate in, including the Family Place, multi-generational activities (like capture the flag), fieldtrips, swimming (for a fee), and opportunities for rest and refection. This is a great time for informal outdoor play.

Junior Gathering hires babysitters for groups A and B during the Junior Gathering program times. However, some babysitters contracted by the Gathering make themselves available during other times of the day for an hourly fee. The Junior Gathering office will maintain a list of qualified babysitters who will be available, but it is up to parents to contact them, arrange for child care, and pay them. We also encourage parents to do cooperative babysitting. (You will likely be housed near families with similarly aged children.)

Junior Gathering programming runs until 9:00 to give parents the opportunity to attend evening plenary. For our youngest Friends the program is very informal. It is totally your call as to whether or not your infant or toddler attends evening group time, especially if bedtime is an issue. A well rested child will be better able to focus and reap the benefits of morning group. However, for school age children, our experience has shown that the more time they spend together the more friends they make! For 5th through 8th graders, our expectation is that all the participants will attend each evening - since this is when they have their support groups. However, if your older child must miss one evening, it is important to notify the leaders - so they won't coming looking for you!

We want your child's grade at the time of registration - April or May of 2010.

See the answer to "I don't understand the group letters. What do they mean?"

The number of children in your child's group will depend upon a variety of factors, but we generally like to keep our numbers small, around 10 - 15 children per group, with adequate adult staff to support the group. For the very youngest, our goal is one-on-one care, with babysitters who stay with the same child morning and evening. Our two oldest groups - the 5th & 6th graders (Group J) and 7th & 8th graders (K Group) - have workshops in the morning, usually fewer than 15 people in each. In the evening they have small support groups of 5 - 8 for the beginning time, followed by large group activities. For all the groups between those ages (from 2 year-olds to 4th graders) we aim for 10 - 15 per group.

You will receive a letter from your child's group coordinator in mid-June with all of the specifics.

The coordinators of your child's group will be writing letters to introduce themselves to you and your child. These letters should arrive in June.

The 5th and 6th graders will indicate their preference of workshop during the Open House on Sunday evening (6:15 p.m. July 4) at Gathering. The 7th and 8th graders indicate their preference at the mandatory K Group parent and participant meeting at 9:00 on Sunday evening. The Junior Gathering staff then assign the participants to workshops based on the participant's preference AND group size.

The two friends should be sure they indicate the same workshop preference. They may also wish to contact the Coordinator of their group prior to arriving at Gathering regarding their desire to be together. The letters that will arrive in June from the Coordinators of your child's group will have their preferred contact information.

This depends on the child's age and your preference. Children up through 12 years of age have the option of sleeping on the floor in your room IF the other bed is occupied. (No bedding or pillows provided!) If just you and your child are attending, you need to find a roommate in order to choose the "on the floor" option (because we won't room a random single adult with you and your child.) Older children or younger ones who don't want to sleep on the floor will share a room with you or, if your room is full, with another child of similar age and same gender. That room will likely be next to your room, or just across the hall.

The Housing Team will choose another family in the same situation and put your child with another one and put them in the room between yours and the other child's parent's room. If they can't find a good match for your child, your child may be in a room by themselves -- but you will still be charged the price for a double (shared-room).

In the housing section of the registration form, indicate the friend as your child's desired roommate. You might also ask your child to double check to see if the friend's family is choosing the same type housing (A/C or not) and "Housing Cluster" (General, FLBGTQC, etc.)

We think it is the loving communities that develop in the groups in such a short amount of time!