Many Quaker Meetings have Children's Meetings. A Children's Meeting runs concurrently with Sunday Meeting for Worship. Children and young people often spend the first 15 minutes of Meeting for Worship in the Meeting Room before leaving to attend the Children's Meeting. Alternatively, they may leave the Children's Meeting and join the Meeting for Worship in the Meeting Room for the final 15 minutes. Canterbury Meeting is currently experimenting with the Children's Meeting taking place during the first three quarters of an hour of Meeting for Worship, followed by the children and young people joining the Meeting for Worship for the final quarter of an hour.
Whilst some children and young people value the opportunity to sit quietly for an hour, there are many who prefer to be active and busy. A Children's Meeting puts structure into that time of activity. As with most aspects of Quaker organisation, there tends to be a committee to achieve this. A Children's Committee typically includes the involvement of parents.
The activities planned by the Children's Committee can be highly varied, and may address issues important to many Quakers, such as nature and the environment, cultural diversity in our communities, poverty around the world, different faith traditions, and so on. As far as feasible, the activities are designed and graded to be age-appropriate.
The Children's Committee plans and organises the activities and the rota of Quakers leading those activities. All adults directly involved with the children and young people are DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checked, or else are themselves the parent of a child attending the Children's Meeting.
Older teenagers and young adults (up to 30-ish) may get involved with Young Friends General Meeting which operates at a national level.
If you would like to know more about the Canterbury Quaker Meeting Children's Meeting, or its Children's Committee, please contact Janet Wilson via the Clerk to Canterbury Meeting (see Contact Us).