[YAF-announce] Where have you visited? --Greetings from YAF Camp!

[Frederick Martin]

Hello YAFS – 

(Mostly the purpose of this email is some straightforward questions in paragraph
3 and 4, so if you’re the skimming type, skip down to there.)

As most of you know, about 20 YAFs gathered in Starksboro, VT, for a week.  It’s
been fabulous.  Of course, we miss you all, too.

YAF Business Meeting, which has been convened here at YAF Camp, received a
letter from Yearly Meeting’s Ministry and Counsel’s Subcommittee on
Intervisitation.  They had been worshiping on the queries presented by the
WGYFers at Sessions 2006, and wondered how much YAFs are visiting meetings other
than our own.  We thought it might be nice to reply to the letter with news of
where we’ve been.  It seems that they’re mostly curious about visits within New
England, but we’re also going to let them know about the Richmond conference,
and other contacts we have had across the country and world.

So... Have you been visiting other Quakers?  Where?  Have you gone to Meeting
while traveling?  Have you attended Quaker conferences?  Committee meetings (not
of your home meeting)?  Have there been any spontaneous meetings for worship out
there?

Also: Would you be willing to visit meetings in New England if other YAFs were
going?  How about just one other YAF (i.e., traveling in pairs)?  NEYM offers
funding for this purpose--would using that fund help you travel?

We’re mostly looking for a list of visits and a sense of the interest in
intervisitation, but any descriptions of or reflections about other meetings or
comments about any of this would of course be welcome.  And of course a short
email that only answers some of the questions is much better than no answer at all.

Please reply to me directly, and let me know if you want your visits to be
anonymous. I’ll compile the answers and send a summary to Brian Drayton, and to
this list, and present it at a future YAF business meeting.

Frederick (and Ben)
For the YAF business meeting

Reply to: frederick at meetingschool.org


YMMC’s original letter is below.
~~~~~~~


To New England Yearly Meeting Young Adult Friends
6/6/2008

Dear Friends:
        The Intervisitation subcommittee of Yearly Meeting Ministry and Counsel
is charged with encouraging intervisitation and travel under concern among New
England Friends, by sharing information, by providing some money for travel
costs, and by other means that we develop.
	The circulation of Friends, whether they travel under a concern, or simply out
of love for, and interest in, the life and progress of New England Quakers, is
an essential ingredient in our unity and faithfulness.  It feeds the meetings
that are visited, as well as the meetings from which visitors set out, and it is
an important way for individuals to discover and nurture spiritual gifts of many
kinds.  In our last meeting, the subcommittee reflected on the advices that the
Young Adult Friends shared with a recent session of Yearly Meeting, about living
and sharing our faith.  The vitality and insight of the young adult Friends is
crucial to our current witness and health as a community, and they have always
made an important contribution to intervisitation.  Recognizing that this is
still the case, and grateful for it, we also wanted to encourage those of you
who are concerned for intervisition to join with our work as way opens.  This
might take various forms, as we seek to pull together news of who is visiting,
under what concerns, in which meetings, and also to find ways to facilitate
intervisitation, with a particular concern for smaller meetings, which are the
majority in our Yearly Meeting.  We also find it important to come together for
mutual advice and encouragement, as there is always more to learn, and in “the
school of Christ” we are always beginners.
	So we hope to hear how this concern is going forward among you and what
intervisitation may be happening, and we invite anyone who feels interested in
intervisitation to our next meeting, at Gonic meetinghouse on July 27th.  Please
contact the intervisitation list-serv if you seek ride-sharing opportunities
(intervisitationlist at neym.org), and contact me if help with travel costs is needed.

In Christian love your friend,
Brian Drayton, Clerk
On behalf of the Subcommittee on Intervisitation and Travel in the Ministry, YMMC