Friends and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Updates, How-To Guides, and Resources

If you're looking for updates about FGC events and Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions, public health and safety information, guides about how to organize Meeting for Worship virtually, and resources for pastoral care and self-care, you'll find all that and more in this resource.

FGC Events

• FGC Gathering - in-person is POSTPONED until 2021; a Virtual Gathering working group is forming for summer 2020, read our statement and updates here

Virtual Meeting for Worship and Worship-Sharing Opportunities

• Check out our resource featuring a list of virtual worship opportunities through FGC and additional Quaker organizations here.

Public Health Information

• Article from the CDC - Interim Guidance: Get Your Mass Gatherings or Large Community Events Ready for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Guidelines from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) - Community-based measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Canada
• Printable Flyer from the CDC - COVID-19: Stop the Spread of Germs
• PDF booklet by the CDC - Implementation of Mitigation Strategies for Communities with Local COVID-19 Transmission (page 7 lists guidelines for faith organizations, and page 9 offers definitions for terminology)
• Article from NPR - Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus
• Visual Guide/Article from Mashable - 14 ways to greet someone that don't involve shaking hands

Resources for Organizing Worship Online

• Article about Digital Worship Strategies by Kathleen Wooten - Being the Church Online
• Article in Friends Journal with links to resources from Quaker monthly meetings - Quakers respond to Coronavirus
• Article from Sojourners - Community with Communing: Resources for Virtual Church
• Resource by Emily Provance - Gathering in Worship...when we don’t physically gather
• Article by Anna Woofenden - Increase Church: Cease In-Person Gatherings (for now)
• Article by Christine Green about participating in virtual worship - COVID-19 Inspired-Quaker Meeting Online with Babies, Dogs & a Moving Car
• Resource from New England Yearly Meeting and Emily Provance - Virtual Clerking (VIDEO)
• Resource from Pendle Hill - Hybrid Worship Experiment (PDF)

Pastoral Care and Self-Care Resources

• ​Article from NPR - Pandemic Panic? These 5 Tips Can Help You Regain Your Calm
• Article by Ashley M. Wilcox - 5 Tips for Online Pastoral Care
• Resource by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting - Pastoral Care for our Community during the COVID-19 Outbreak
• Resource from the Christian and Interfaith Relations Committee (CIRC) - Online Prayer, Music, Worship, Sharing Resources in the Time of COVID-19
• Press Release from Everence^®: Everence offers assistance and relief options during COVID-19 outbreak
• Resource from Everence® and LSS Financial Counseling: Budget and debt counseling

Religious Education Resources for Parents and Teachers

• Facebook Group - Valiant Together: RE Support During COVID-19
• Spiritual Deepening Library - Spiritual Deepening for Children
• Planning Religious Education Programming for Children During COVID-19

Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions

View more information for FGC-affiliated Yearly Meetings that are have or will hold annual sessions virtually. 

• Alaska Friends Conference - Status of sessions uknown.
• Baltimore Yearly Meeting - In-person sessions cancelled, virtual opportunities being offered. More information here.
• Canadian Yearly Meeting - Cancelled. Read statement on their website.
• Illinois Yearly Meeting - sessions will be held online. Visit their website to learn more.
• Intermountain Yearly Meeting - sessions will be held online. Visit their website to learn more.
• Lake Erie Yearly Meeting - In-person sessions cancelled, virtual sessions possibility TBD. More information here.
• New England Yearly Meeting - in-person sessions cancelled, virtual sessions TBD. Read statement on their website.
• New York Yearly Meeting - in-person sessions cancelled, virtual sessions TBD. Read statement on their website.
• Northern Yearly Meeting - sessions will be held online. Visit their website to learn more.
• Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting - sessions will be held online. Visit their website to learn more.
• Pacific Yearly Meeting - sessions will be held online. Visit their website to learn more.
• Philadelphia Yearly Meeting - sessions will be held online. Visit their website to learn more.
• Piedmont Friends Fellowship & Yearly Meeting - annual retreat and sessions postponed. Read statement on their website.
• South Central Yearly Meeting - sessions postponed until Fall 2020. Read statement on their website.
• Southeastern Yearly Meeting - Cancelled. Read statement on their website.
• Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting & Association - Cancelled. More information on their website.

Do you have an update about your Yearly Meeting's Annual Sessions, or a resource about pastoral care, self-care, virtual Meeting for Worship? Share it with us.