EMEYF

Dear Friends,

We are delighted to invite you to EMEYF Spring Gathering 2025!

We will gather from 12th to 19th April 2025 at Brittebo lägergård, near Jönköping in Sweden.

The theme for this gathering is “Fear, Faith and Integrity in the Presence of Conflict.” We discerned this theme together while contemplating living a Quaker life in a world dealing with constant war and violence. We want to acknowledge the fear that many of us feel, as well as the hope and faith that community brings. We hope that this theme is broad enough to engender much worshipful reflection and thoughtful conversation. There will also be plenty of space for fun and laughter!

Who are EMEYF?

European and Middle Eastern Young Friends (EMEYF) is the organisation of young Quakers (aged 18-35ish) in this region. EMEYF is a spiritual community, which draws its inspiration from the Quaker tradition and fills it with the actual experiences of EMEYFers. EMEYF crosses geographical boundaries, discovering both unity and diversity in our Quaker community. 

We like to meet in various places within our section, to nurture each other in our spiritual and personal travel.  We explore what community means to us and what it means to be a (young) person in this world. We try to create space to follow our passion and the spirit and to maintain openness to wherever that leads us to. Please see our website for more information: emeyf.org

Families are very welcome and we will try our best to meet the needs of those who register, but please note that there will not be a separate childrens’ programme.

What to Expect

We want to:

• Live together as an intentional, peaceful community;
• Spend time in nature together;
• Share worship, joy and spiritual nourishment;
• Reflect on how we can live faithfully in the world;
• Connect with Friends in Sweden and the Nordic region more broadly;
• Get creative with crafts, singing and dancing.

Please consider the theme (Fear, Faith and Integrity in the Presence of Conflict) in advance, and think about any sessions or reflections you might want to bring to the gathering.

Participating Online

In person registration is now closed.  You can still register to join the gathering online.

Online participation will be possible for part of the gathering – business sessions and epilogues will be hybrid, and we hope that some creative / spirituality sessions can be joined online too. Please complete this registration form by Friday 4th April if you would be interested in joining some sessions. 

If you have any questions, you can send them to this email: springgatheringemeyf@gmail.com

Love and light,

The Planning Committee

(Adam, Daniel, Hannah and Pete, with support from Esther and Finn)

Information for participants who have already registered to join in-person

Thanks to everyone who has registered for Spring Gathering – we’re excited to have over 40 in-person participants, which will make for a great gathering. We’ll be in touch with more details about the gathering soon, in the meantime, here is some key information:

Venue Information

We will meet at Brittebo lägergård (Brittebo campground), near the town of Bottnaryd in Sweden. The nearest city is Jönköping.  In feedback from last year, and in the decision to travel to the Nordic region, we heard a desire to connect with nature and be away from urban locations.  Brittebo is close to ‘Swan Lake’ and surrounded by woodland, with plenty of opportunities for outdoor activities (including swimming, table tennis, canoeing, sauna and bonfires!) In the middle of the week we will have a day without any business or other formal sessions, so that we can make the most of getting out into the beautiful surroundings.

The main building and cottages have beds for around 40 people, and there is also an annexe that we will have access to.  There are bedrooms and gathering spaces on the ground floor, with step-free access.  We hope it will be a cosy, welcoming space to build community in for the week, with space for us to all be together, and to enjoy quiet time / small group activities. See more on their website.

Please note that with every bed there is a blanket/duvet and a pillow.  There will be a very small amount of linens available at the venue, but please bring your own bed linens (duvet/pillow covers) or a sleeping bag if you are able to. Please also bring your own towel for the shower.

Travel to the Gathering

The compromise for meeting in this beautiful location is that it is remote.  To help with travel, we have arranged a vehicle to transfer Friends from the nearest public transport in the town of Bottnaryd to the venue.  You must first travel to Jönköping, which is accessible by train or coach.  From Jönköping there is a 30 minute bus journey to Bottnaryd.  We will share more information about travel options when you register.

Sustainable Travel and Community Support

At our Business Meeting last year, we discussed holding sustainability as a key decision-making influence at EMEYF. We therefore strongly encourage everyone to use land transport (coaches and trains) to get to the gathering this year.

We recognise that land travel takes longer and is often more expensive. A few options have been discerned to make this easier:

1. The Sustainable Travel Bursary has been set up to offer financial support to anyone struggling to afford travelling to the gathering.

2. We will set up regional Whatsapp groups so people can travel to the gathering together. Hopefully this will make the journey less daunting, more fun, and will be a great way to start the gathering a day or two early!

Flexible pricing

For Spring Gathering 2025 there is no fixed fee. If you are joining in person, please indicate on your registration form how much you intend to contribute.

The average cost per adult is 230 €, made up of approximately:

• Accommodation: 130 €

• Food: 70 €

• Other (including for example program materials and vehicle hire): 30 €

Please consider how much you can contribute relative to this average cost of 230 €. This may cover your own costs, cover less than your own costs, or be a higher amount (a ‘solidarity contribution’).

More information and guidance on flexible pricing is available here.

PS: If the link to the sign up form isn’t working, copy & paste this into your browser: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecJ-JKg3cBIxELLYO7wMGxqA0wKGPKjyNLd7yb1G6g3csV7A/viewform