Baltimore Yearly Meeting Young Adult Friends Epistle

Greetings, Friends.

Last year, the Young Adult Friends were joyous as we sent out the news of our community’s revitalization. We brought forth our new community’s first epistle; we ran a fishbowl and several social events; and our focus on identity produced a Minute of Purpose outlining our foundation and long-term goals. We come to this Annual Session with a new reason to be joyous. We’ve achieved many of the goals we set for ourselves last year; new Young Adult Friends are contributing to our ongoing vitality and growth; and we’ve formed new goals for our continued development as a community.

In keeping with our Minute of Purpose, Young Adult Friends held two gatherings this year. The first, held during Ninth Month at Alexandria Friends Meeting, focused on long-term planning. The second, held at Adelphi Friends Meeting during Twelfth Month, gave Friends a chance to witness through service by participating in a food drive. We also created a new email list to help us keep in touch, and organized social activities through this Annual Session week to help us bond. We are glad to affirm that these steps have indeed helped us to form a strong and stable community.

We rejoice also at our continuing growth. We are accustomed to welcoming new members, but we were astounded by how quickly and how well this year’s new YAFs made themselves an integral part of the community. Their contributions to our business process, committees, and social activities have proven invaluable as we work to move our program forward. As many of our new YAFs come to us from the Young Friends program, we thank the Young Friends for invigorating the spirit within these individuals and for contributing to the infusion of new energy that has strengthened our community this year.

As we look forward to the coming year, we find even more cause for joy. We’ve scheduled two more conferences and plans for a Young Adult Friends’ Manual of Operations are underway. We also hope to continue our outreach to Young Adults and Young Adult Friends communities within BYM’s monthly meetings. Several of our Friends have also expressed an interest in networking with Young Adult Friends in other Yearly Meetings, and we seek to support them as they follow their leadings to promote inter-visitation and mutual understanding.

Last year, we produced an epistle in hopes that small steps would lead to great strides. The small steps we have taken over this past year have brought us to a path where great strides seem well within reach, and we look forward to finding out where the road will lead.

In the Silence,
The Young Adult Friends of Baltimore Yearly Meeting