Costa Rica - Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas

Voices of Young Adult Friends

Hazel Guindon (Monteverde Friends Meeting) – Monteverde, Costa Rica

As we continue learning how to expand as a faith community while including all voices, I want to express my deep appreciation for all the work being done—both locally and globally—to keep our diverse Quaker community alive.

Currently, I am on Vancouver Island, worshiping with friends near Duncan, where acknowledgment of the broader Quaker practice and FWCC was mentioned on World Quaker Day. That same weekend, I had a video call with Neyda from Bolivia and Fernanda from México, which inspired me to write a short article. I hope it encourages them to write about their own experiences, and I would be very curious to learn more about their perspectives on Quaker life. I ended up submitting a publication to Friends Journal, as Renzo has been motivating us to share our work in the journal’s Latin American part.

I also want to express my heartfelt gratitude for FWCC, especially the gathering in Arizona. I learned so much from that experience, and it has shaped the way I hope to approach future Quaker experiences. I feel deeply honored to be part of a non-programmed Quaker practice within the Latin American section. I admire how our meeting is growing, and I’m profoundly grateful we are part of a global network.

Thank you, truly, for all that you do!

With love and peace,

Hazel

Meg Cody (North Pacific Yearly Meeting) – Portland, Oregon

I wonder how the trials of young adulthood have changed over the decades. I find it hard to believe the current state of society is all that novel—there have been countless economic crises, wars, and billows of hatred rising up throughout the centuries. Have things really changed all that much? Is this really the “most difficult” time for young adults?

While these questions frenzy my mind over whether the world has always been on fire, it doesn’t negate the urgency I feel at present to find a way to make the world a better place.

I was spread so thin over the past year with responsibilities that moving with a quickness drowned out the small, still voice of Spirit. It was so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of opportunity, something which I find so challenging to navigate at this point in my life. I feel the surmounting pressure to balance my faith, career, and personal life—a ceaseless discernment of how to experience a connection with Spirit as I consider what it means to live a holy life.

It’s not Spirit that asks me to make money and pay my bills—that urging stems from my choosing to live in a capitalist society. But how I meet that end can be filled with Spirit.

I’m grateful to know I’m not alone in my struggle to navigate life’s many crossroads as I commiserate with other Quakers my age. Uplifting this community offers me comfort as I navigate endemic polarization between what I believe to be right and wrong, just and unjust. I’ve turned my efforts towards encouraging and empowering young adult friends in my monthly and yearly meetings, and am now led to forge a path for North and Latin American young adults to connect. And while I’ve encountered little resistance from the community in all of these endeavors, I find the challenge lies within myself.

It was an honor to be a part of planning opportunities for North and Latin American Friends to connect with one another. In this great, big, overwhelming world, it’s comforting to know there are Quakers everywhere showing up for that of God in everything. I feel my worries ease as more and more spaces for young adults to connect open across our section.

I’m stumbling along as I learn more about the cultural differences I have with Latin American friends. I’m embarrassed with every faux pas I make and grow frustrated with myself for not being more considerate. How dare I not know what I don’t know?

I turn these frustrations towards Spirit and recognize how I’m being led. I might walk along the path clumsily, but I continue to move towards Spirit’s light.

Spirit’s light is shining on a small and mighty group of young adults who are determined to build the future for young adult Friends as way opens. The first of four virtual gatherings was held on September 6th to facilitate introductions between young adults in the Section of the Americas. While it wasn’t a smooth planning process or program, it was filled with Spirit and opportunity. I’m excited to see how each event grows and changes from previous ones, and even more enthused about what might come of these connections.

The next events will occur on the first Saturdays of December, March, and June. Please share this opportunity widely! A registration form for December will be shared in the coming months.

Meg

Young Adult Friends Section Meeting Retreat Report

Young Adult Friends (YAFs, ages 18-35) serve a vital role in the health of the Quaker community. They carry the weighty responsibility of the future of Quakerism. They provide a bridge for Junior Friends to step into the larger Meeting. They bring energy and vibrance to gatherings. They steward what it means to be a Quaker.

Hosting opportunities for YAFs to be with one another builds a collective identity of Quakerism for this generation and becomes a foundation for what Quakerism will become. It also offers YAFs opportunities to engage with people going through similar experiences and learn to navigate those challenges from a place of inner light.

YAFs from across the Section of the Americas (SOA) were blessed with a unique and historic opportunity which was made possible by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). In March, 18 YAFs from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, and Bolivia gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona for three days leading up to the SOA Annual Section Meeting. This gathering was the first of its kind, and was inspired by the spirit of connection sparked at the YAF Gathering prior to the World Plenary last August. It marked a powerful moment of cross-cultural fellowship and spiritual deepening among young Friends.

YAFs were grounded in their shared belief of honoring the light within each of us while celebrating the unique facets of our local, regional, and national expressions of our faith. The first activity together was to establish the following intentions to aid the navigation of this diversity.

To learn and respect the differences between our cultures and worship / Para aprender y respetar las diferencias entre nuestras culturas y adoración
Speak on behalf of yourself – use ‘I’ statements / Habla en nombre de ti mismo – usa declaraciones ‘Yo’
Seek unity in our diversity / Buscar unidad en nuestra diversidad
We’re learning from God through each other / Estamos aprendiendo de Dios el uno a través del otro
Every experience is unique and valued / Cada experiencia es única y valorada
Enjoy being in each other’s presence / Disfruta de estar en presencia del otro
In building trust with one another, we learn how to share our light / Al construir confianza entre nosotros, aprendemos a compartir nuestra luz

YAFs deepened their spiritual bonds through a rich tapestry of shared experiences. Throughout the gathering, YAFs stepped into roles of leadership by guiding workshops, facilitating worship, and greeting the day together on peaceful sunrise hikes. A memorable excursion to the Desert Botanical Garden, led by two gracious friends from Phoenix Monthly Meeting, offered a space for reflection and connection with the natural world. With open hearts and willing hands, YAFs also gave back to the Phoenix Meeting community, providing much-needed yard care for its smaller, aging congregation. YAFs led the entire community in worship on the final day of the Section Meeting—an experience many described as spiritually moving and left a lasting impression on all who were present.

What young Friends do now shapes the future of Quakerism. Opportunities for YAFs to connect amongst themselves are crucial for the discernment of their identity and emboldens the brilliance of Quakerism for generations to come. This event is just one instance of the commitment that FWCC has in supporting YAFs around the world to honor their presence, engagement, and visibility.

Inspired by the depth of connection and shared spirit they experienced, YAFs left the gathering with a renewed commitment to strengthening their bonds and expanding their presence within the wider Quaker community across the Section of the Americas. While this may have been the first event of its kind, it is clear it will not be the last. The seeds planted in Scottsdale are already taking root, and are nurturing a growing movement of young Friends ready to walk together in faith, friendship, and service.

Meg Cody

Building the Future as Way Opens: Reflecting on our 2025 Section Meeting

Gathering of Friends from the 2025 Section Meeting

From March 20–23, 2025, 145 Friends gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona and 30 more connected online for the FWCC Section of the Americas Meeting. We came from all across the Americas and beyond, including the largest Latin America delegation in recent memory. Friends traveled from their homes in Bolivia, Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, the United Kingdom, and the United States—to be together in the Spirit and celebrate our diversity in fellowship. The theme of our gathering, “Building the Future as Way Opens,” was drawn from Isaiah 43:19: “Look, I am doing something new! Now it emerges; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in the desert and rivers in the wasteland.”

And we truly saw something new emerge among us.

Throughout our time together, worship set the heartbeat of our days. Each morning began with early worship—quiet, grounded, Spirit-led. We experienced rich and diverse forms of worship led by Latin American Friends, Conservative Friends, and Young Adult Friends. Each voice, each style, was a reminder of how our varied spiritual practices all seek and serve the same Divine source.

Bible study sessions opened the scriptures in new ways, inviting us to listen with fresh ears and softened hearts. Home groups offered a space to reflect, laugh, and share stories across languages and backgrounds. In these small circles, we grew in our understanding of one another—not just intellectually, but spiritually and as members of a greater community.

In addition to worship and fellowship, we came together in workshops and business sessions, exploring how FWCC can live more deeply into its calling. After a successful campaign “Becoming the Quakers the World Needs”, we feel some fatigue on committees and in our fundraising efforts as transition, new programs and reorganization require more new energy.

We saw progress on new programming made possible by the campaign. We shared a beta version of our Digital Quaker Glossary, an evolution of a collaborative tool for making Quaker terms and vocabulary accessible to all in English and Spanish. We look forward to the next phase of this project, supporting our active Bilingual Services team to develop a certified interpretation and translation program. We also announced new partnerships on our digital map, offering a single source to find Friends’ projects as well as meetings, churches and worship groups around the world. Our Quaker Connect program launched in the days leading up to the Section Meeting and apprentices from meetings across the Section joined our gathering for the first time with new perspective and enthusiasm for what is possible in the Society of Friends. To witness their excitement and growing connection was to witness the future unfolding before our eyes.

Young Adult Friends brought great energy to the gathering, not only in their worship leadership but also in their fellowship. They explored the desert gardens together, shared meals and laughter, and took part in a service project for a local Friends meeting—offering their hands and hearts in service as part of a first-of-its-kind pre-conference gathering for young people across the Section.

Evan Welkin, our new Executive Secretary, introduced himself and set his personal experience within our gathering theme and what is unfolding in the Section. Joined by FWCC General Secretary Tim Gee, they both invited us to trust God and in each other as an unknown path unfolds before us in a time of uncertainty and great possibility. Our plenary speakers, Ana Gabriela Castañeda Aguilera and Debbie Humphries, built on this theme and reminded us of examples from scripture and our own lives when we are invited to do new things: how do we respond? We are excited that Ana and Debbie’s remarks will be printed for distribution soon.

We are, as ever, a community of Friends seeking unity across languages, cultures, and traditions. This gathering gave us the opportunity to treasure our diversity and to celebrate our shared commitment to God’s leading among us. There were long conversations over meals, joyful singing in multiple languages, and celebration over the work we are doing throughout the Section. Embracing Friends from across the globe, not just physically but spiritually, helped us find new ways to speak, to listen, to walk forward together.

The Spirit is doing something new among us. We came away from this gathering excited about projects that inspire and unite us, energized by the possibilities that lie ahead. We are also clear-eyed about the clear and present challenges in the world around us today. As we return to our home countries and meetings, may we continue to walk forward in faith, trusting that the road will open, and rivers will flow, even in the wasteland.

As Ana Gabriela shared powerfully with us during her evening plenaries: “Sometimes, it’s the very act of stepping into the unknown that prepares us in ways we never imagined.” Like the road in the desert or the river in the wasteland, this gathering reminded us that new paths are revealed when we walk forward in faith, trusting the unknown. We are all grateful for every person who made this gathering possible and for each Friend who took that leap. Together, we are building the future—as way opens.

Introducing Heather Gosse, New Operations Manager

Heather Gosse, our new bilingual Operations Manager, began October 3, 2018! She brings a wide variety of experiences from the business, educational, and Quaker worlds. Heather is a member of Monteverde Friends Meeting in Costa Rica, where she lived for almost ten years and where she was highly involved in the life of the Meeting. She is particularly interested in the different ways people express their experience of Quakerism, and worked within Monteverde Meeting to help people connect with and use their own authentic religious language.

Previously, she was a member and clerk of the Finance Committee for Goshen Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania. She has a degree in economics from Oberlin College and has taught middle school science at Friends Select School, Monteverde Friends School and Wilmington Friends School. She was previously a small business manager and an economics research analyst.

She will take over scheduling our Zoom calls and Doodle Polls. In addition to the regular donation processing, financial management and newsletter, she will be managing the Representative Engagement survey and preparations for the Nominating and Representative Engagement committee meetings next month. Please join us in welcoming her to the FWCC office.

Heather has been back in the Philadelphia area of the U.S. for a few years now, readjusting to tall buildings, lockdown drills instead of earthquake drills, and the Northern seasons. She enjoys folk dancing, making music, and spending time outside.