
Young Adult Friends (YAFs) are an affinity group typically ages 18-35ish (and older). We organize events throughout the year as well as some YAF activities within during Annual Sessions. Many of us are active in the wider Yearly Meeting.
About PacYM Young Adult Friends
“Young [Adult] Friends experience Yearly Meeting as a unique opportunity to come together in fellowship and worship, giving one another emotional and spiritual support. Though many Young [Adult] Friends participate in other Quaker activities, Yearly Meeting is an important experience for Friends in transition from youth into adulthood. The weeklong gathering gives them time to build community both socially and spiritually.
“Young [Adult] Friends … build leadership, and encourage awareness of Quaker practice. They strive to be involved in the greater PacYM community, including the Junior Yearly Meeting and Children’s Program. Young [Adult] Friends learn and grow from the patterns of their traditions and examples of their elders and peers.”
(From PacYM Faith & Practice, p. 171)

Current Events
Please check our regularly updated youth / intergenerational calendar page for Young Adult Friends activities.
Stay in Touch!
Private Facebook Groups for YAFs throughout PacYM:
PacYM Young Adult Friends
Los Angeles Area Young Adult Friends
Bay Area Young Adult Friends
Western Young Friends New Year’s Gathering
Worldwide public group:
Young Adult Friends (Quakers)
Email listserv(s): If you want to be part of our listserv(s), email pym.youthcoordinator@gmail.com with your geographic region and ask to be put on.
Clerks: We decided not to have clerks or any appointed positions as of July 2017 as a way of more greatly incorporating ourselves into the general yearly meeting. See YAF Clerks’ Report to Annual Session 2017
YAFs at PacYM Annual Session
YAF Retreat Before Annual Session. Usually Wed-Fri before AS at Redwood Forest Friends Meetinghouse in Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
- Schedule for Annual Session: YAFs have some informal affinity group time and otherwise participate in general activities, such as worship sharing, worship, business plenaries, committee work, and general community fun. There is a mixed-gender YAF dorm option. Many of us volunteer in the children’s and teen programs (and get our registration fees paid by volunteering!). See our Annual Session Info page.
Financial Assistance to Attend
- Need financial assistance for registration for Annual Session? Ask your Meeting! Ask the YM! Apply through the regular financial assistance form for Annual Session. Please note that the request form due far in advance and requires going through your Monthly Meeting or Worship Group first. Start asap!
- If you or a friend you’re bringing is not part of a Meeting or Worship Group and needs financial assistance, contact the PacYM Youth Programs Coordinator (YPC) to explore options.
- For travel assistance, ask your Meeting first (if you have one), then the YPC
- Volunteer and come for free: Be a “Friendly Responsible Adult Presence (FRAP)” for Junior Yearly Meeting or a Teacher for Children’s Program: to apply, see the Adult Allies to Youth / Youth Workers page. Registration fees for Annual Session are waived for FRAPs and Teachers. Applications due in May. (After the deadline: feel free to ask the program’s clerk if they are still seeking applications.)
Regular / Other Events
Western Young Friends New Year’s Gathering, December 28-January 2 every year. All ages welcome. Alternates between Southern Oregon and NorCal. Not an official PacYM event, it was founded in 1975 by young people from Pacific and North Pacific Yearly Meetings when PacYM split into three smaller yearly meetings. While there is no formal tie to other Quaker bodies, WYFNYG has many participants who are members, attenders, or former children of Friends Meetings.
Past Fun Events (Archive)

- 2018 PacYM Annual Session
- 2018 YAF Retreat Before Annual Session at Redwood Forest
- 2017 PacYM Annual Session
- 2017 YAF PreAnnual Session Retreat at Redwood Forest
- 2017 YAF Clerking Workshop at Sierra Friends Center in Nevada City, CA, with facilitators Diego Navarro and Barbara Babin
- 2016 Pre-Annual Session Retreat at Redwood Forest
- 2015 YAF Family & Elders Pre-Annual Session Retreat at Berkeley
- 2014 YAFs at PacYM Annual Session
Annual Session YAF Archive
- YAF Clerks’ Report to Annual Session 2017
- Young Adult Friends 2016 Epistle
- Young Adult Friends 2015 Epistle (PDF)
- 2015 YAF Schedule mostly overlapped with the general adult schedule, had some YAF affinity group time in the evenings, and also included some activities with the JYM (teen) and children’s programs.
- Young Adult Friends 2014 Epistle (PDF)
- Young Adult Friends 2013 Epistle (PDF)
- Young Adult Friends 2012 Approved Minutes (Web Version or PDF file)
- Young Adult Friends 2012 Epistle (Web Version or PDF file)
- Young Friends Epistle 2011 (PDF file)