In January 2018, FGC began the search for a Friend to help test and evaluate practices for welcoming newcomers as part of the upcoming Welcoming Friend Project. We are excited to announce that Trayce Peterson, a Friend who is very active in FGC’s community of Friends, has been hired to shepherd this work as our Welcoming Friend Project Assistant!

Trayce was raised in Philadelphia and attended Quaker schools in Delaware County (Lansdowne, Media, and Providence Friends Schools). She graduated Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion. In the past, she guided the morning Bible Study at the annual FGC Gathering and has facilitated Gathering workshops as well. 

As our new Welcoming Friend Project Assistant, Trayce will create a collection of resources, an online training module, and a workshop at the FGC Gathering in July 2019 that are all geared toward helping Friends in monthly and yearly meetings adopt inclusive welcoming practices. Additionally, she will create a community of practice and a volunteer leadership team that will carry the work after the initial project phases have come to an end.

Outside of her work with FGC, Trayce loves to watch movies and travel, especially among Friends. She was the first volunteer to serve in Belize with Friends United Meeting and served as the co-clerk of the pastoral care team for the most recent World Gathering of Friends. In 2017, she started SplitSeed Productions, a production company that uses art-based interventions (including theater, music, and spoken word) to examine issues of human rights. Trayce has also been featured in a QuakerSpeak video, which Friends can watch on the QuakerSpeak website. 

Please join us in welcoming Trayce to FGC!