Can Quakers be a cushion to sink into?
Across the country, a significant number of local meetings have been reporting an increase in new attenders. In most cases, newcomers are either families with young children or young adults who are searching for spiritual meaning in an increasingly polarised world.
Carlton Hill in Leeds has welcomed a huge influx of young adults. This means that along with the children and their families there are now more people aged under 30 at Sunday worship than people aged over 60. One of our meetings in London has largely become a community of people in their 20s since Friends moved the meeting time. Sheffield Central Meeting now has over 90 people of all ages every Sunday, including many new families.
Parents in particular say they're looking for a place where their children have the opportunity to explore their understanding of spirituality, equity and fairness in contrast to the divisive messaging they're regularly hearing from politicians and social media influencers.
"Families and young people are looking to faith communities to provide a cushion to sink into," said Mel Cook, the Quakers in Britain National Development Worker for Children, Families and Young Adults. "Now more than ever it's important for us to be responsive to what people need and to consider different ways of making ourselves available to them away from the traditional Sunday morning."
If your local or area meeting is interested in exploring new ways of engaging with children and young people (CYP) or you want to reach out to new families then the CYP Training Team is ready and willing to spring into action with ideas and training opportunities.
"The training team is part of the Quaker Life Network and is supported by Quaker Life staff," explained Mel. "They're a super-experienced bunch of facilitators who offer engaging, creative and imaginative approaches to sharing our Quaker values. They've recently reviewed our Faith & Play resources and are currently working on new stories."
Faith & Play is a set of stories for Friends to use as a vehicle for learning about Quaker faith and practice, and to explore our identity as Friends.
"The format is experiential which means listeners of any age can find meaning in the story by drawing on their own life experience," said Mel. "Stories provide an opportunity to explore faith both as an individual and as part of a spiritual community."
Are you interested in learning more about becoming a Faith & Play facilitator? Does your local or area meeting want to find new ways of reaching out to families and young people? Would you like to invite the CYP Training Team to facilitate a workshop in your area? If so, for more information click here or email cypadmin@quaker.org.uk.