Hello Friends,
We are writing to invite you and all Young Adult Friends (age 18 and older) to a retreat at the San Jose Friends Meetinghouse the weekend right before the PYM Annual Session.
‘Being Reached by the Life’:
Young Adult Friends’ Pre-PYM Annual Session Retreat 2013
July 26-29
To register, please fill out this form. It should only take 5-10 minutes:
[registration is closed]
More information is below. Hope to see you there! Please register by Friday, July 19th, and feel free to contact us with any questions or ideas. We are also looking for a few more friends to help us with the planning and preparation — how ’bout you?
Julian & Alyssa
Planning Committee Members
(contact info at bottom of email)
WHEN & WHERE
Friday evening, July 26 – Monday morning, July 29, 2013
San Jose Friends Meetinghouse
Meeting Website: https://www.sanjosefriends.org/
Directions & Map: https://www.sanjosefriends.org/directions.html
Join us for a day or the whole weekend.
WHAT & WHY
* Strengthen faith and fellowship among Young Adult Friends (YAFs), and between YAFs and older adults by worshiping and practicing together around our theme, ‘Being Reached by the Life.’
* Prepare us as a small group of Friends to arrive at PYM’s Annual Session already centered and open to being reached by the Life, helping all of PYM gather into beloved community. (You can come even if you’re not going to Annual Session afterward.)
Activities will include: a service project, group games, meals, play, worship-sharing, plenty of sleep, possible beach trip, worship with San Jose Friends ….. and whatever else we want to do together!
WHAT TO BRING
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad
Pillow
Towel and toiletries
Musical instrument
Games
Beach clothes
Service project work/dirty clothes & shoes
Water bottle
Hat, sunscreen, sunglasses
Bicycle (if riding to PYM)
Inspirational reading/writing
You!
TRANSPORTATION
The Meetinghouse is very close to Caltrain, Amtrak, and the San Jose airport. Some of us will bike to Mt. Madonna on Monday morning for Annual Session (approximately 40 miles). Car rides and luggage transportation will be available as well.
COST
$50 each to cover meals, materials, transportation, use of Meetinghouse.
Sliding Scale suggestion $50-$75. Higher contributions will help give scholarships to those in need. No one turned away for lack of funds. Please ask if you need help with registration or transportation. (Don’t be shy about asking!)
REGISTRATION
Please contact Julian or Alyssa by July 19th. (Alyssa’s contact info is below.) Let us know when to expect you and if you have any special dietary or other needs.
THE THEME
Our theme of ‘Being Reached by the Life’ is also the theme of PYM’s Annual Session. You can read about it in the Clerk’s Call on the PYM website:
https://www.pacificyearlymeeting.org/2013/pym-docs/call-to-pym-annual-session-2013/
“Not by strength of arguments … and convincement of my understanding … came I to receive and bear witness of the Truth, but by being secretly reached by the Life. For when I came into the silent assemblies of God’s people, I felt a secret power among them, which touched me to my heart.”
–Robert Barclay, 1678
‘In silent worship each of us has at times been “touched to our heart” as we awaken to our deep bonds with one another and the world, and remember we are part of something much larger than our separate selves. Opening to a comforting, uniting Presence, we are empowered to love freely and live courageously. We cannot manufacture these moments by effort; rather, they come over us when we drop our defenses, get out of our own way, and trust ourselves to “that of God” in ourselves and others. Then we can say with Robert Barclay that we have been “reached by the Life.”’
– Clerk’s Call 2013
Please forward this to other YAFs or other Quakers who might be interested in joining us.
CONTACT
Julian Garrett, San Jose Meeting
Alyssa Nelson, PYM Youth Program Coordinator
pym.youthcoordinator [at] gmail [dot] com