Undergirding a Quaker family is the wider community of Friends. That community bears corporate and individual responsibility for the meeting's children. Meetings should invite and integrate children and young people into as many of their activities as possible and cultivate their gifts. They should recognize that children and young adults can often do jobs and share insights within the meeting that are usually reserved for the greater maturity and experience of their elders. Younger Quakers can strengthen our corporate life with a fresh perspective, with energy and enthusiasm, and with a feeling of accomplishment that can bind them more closely to their meeting and its life as they find respect and meaning in service to their spiritual faith community and to society at large.
Meetings have a particular responsibility to concern themselves when families are in distress.
Even among Friends, many Friends feel the effect of physical or emotional violence inflicted by members of their own families. There may be serious illness, financial difficulties, or other problems within the family. Healing comes through counsel, time, hard work, and supporting relationships. Prayer, love, and forgiveness, with divine grace, are powerful forces in restoring healthy personal interactions. A monthly meeting alive with the Spirit provides support for its children, parents, families, teachers, and caregivers.