Families and TraditionsEverywhere the Youth Ministries Committee travels Friends ask questions like “How do we attract young people and engage with them in our meeting?” This is a very common question, and not just among Quakers. Many congregations are discussing how to invite younger people to their service and build genuine relationships with the seeker.  

How do we create spaces that are welcoming to not just younger people, but also People of Color, people from many economic and educational backgrounds, people with different gender and sexual orientations, and people with families? These are all important questions to grapple with as a meeting. Although we will focus mainly on ways to make your meeting more welcoming to younger Friends, these are topics that we hope you take time to discuss or worship about as well.  Maybe it could be a topic for an intergenerational dialogue or worship sharing.   

Although we don’t claim to have all the answers, we took 12 of the most frequently asked questions, and created a series of “how tos”.  Whether you have a number of younger Friends in your meeting or you don’t have any, here are some helpful hints about reaching out to Young Adults (18-35 year-olds)younger Friends, staying engaged and connected, and other helpful tips that you can cut out and make available in your meetinghouse.
There are 4 downloadable PDFs with 3 topics per document (below).   They are grouped together as follows:

Families and Traditions

• Why Youth and Young Adults are Vital to the Religious Society of Friends
• How to Attract and Keep Families with Young Children
• Quaker Traditions that May Be Helpful to Young Friends

Young Adults (18-35 year-olds)

• How to Make your Meeting More Welcoming to Young Adult Friends (YAFs)
• How to Reach Out to Local College Students
• Intergenerational How to Start a Young Adult Friends Group in Your Meeting or Area

Intergenerational

• How to Plan an Intergenerational Event
• Intergenerational Activities for Meetings
• How to Engage in Intergenerational Conversations

Young Friends (14-18 years-old)

• How to Include High Schoolers in the Meeting
• How to Include Younger Friends on Committees
• How to Stay in Touch with Teens from your Meeting After they Graduate from High School

Young Friends (14-18 years-old)PRINTING INSTRUCTIONS:

Since each document is meant to be printed on one double-sided sheet of paper, you will need to print the first page of the document, and then feed the paper back through the printer for the second page.  There are black lines on each page to help you cut them into thirds. Enjoy!