Matthew Gee
Over 40 Friends – aged from eight months to over eighty years – from 15 different local meetings met together for Berks & Oxon Regional Meeting at Reading Friends Meeting House on Saturday 15 October, to meet Moya, our new Local Development Worker. We envisioned Moya being like a catalyst that enables other molecules to react by offering space where they can come together.
Creative Commons CCO 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (“CCO 1.0 Dedication)
New York Public Library Public Domain; Artist Thomas Rowlandson 1756-1827
Moya stimulated conversations about growing our communities: thinking about nurturing our spiritual roots; strengthening what holds us together in our area meetings and regional meeting; our flourishing branches in our local meetings; and our flowers and fruits in our activities, outreach, witness, etc.
We participated in an all-age worship activity focussed on light, which enabled active participation from the youngest to oldest Friends present. Feedback in our closing worship spoke of this helping adult Friends to reawaken their inner child and experience in a new, different way.
I felt a real enthusiasm amongst Friends for enabling our meetings to grow to be diverse, inclusive and all-age, including learning from one another and also from other churches and faith groups. Friends spoke of their hopes for fun activities that bring together Friends from across the Berks & Oxon region: from ceilidhs to all-age residentials, to ‘foxtrots to Fox Country’, to putting on a pantomime.
It was so refreshing to have a Quaker event that was specifically designed to be all-age. Having children being cared for by Friends who were not their parents freed parents and grandparents to actively participate and contribute; and bringing us all together for a reflective all-age activity in the afternoon helped to deepen us as a community, of which we could all feel a part. I left feeling hopeful for further all-age events
Date for your diary:
Oxford & Swindon Area Meeting
All age meeting with picnic and games for all
Saturday 8 July 2023 10:30 – 16:00
Oxford Quaker Meeting House
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Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 522 • October 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW
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