“…each generation of young Friends by its experiments must discover for itself the truths on which the Society is built if it is to use those truths and to continue and enlarge the work of the Society.” — Young Friends Committee, 1926
Religious Education & Youth Work Resource Friends help our community thrive by providing support in the areas of religious education for families, children, and youth. Meetings sometimes ask for advice on how to structure First Day School, on starting a youth program for a specific age group, on ways of deepening relationship and spirit in multigenerational settings, etc. Through the teaching ministry, Resource Friends in Religious Education and Youth Work offer informational tools and spirit-led experiential opportunities to facilitate learning, deepening of practice, and preparing Quaker communities for the essential work of teaching the Quaker Way to new generations.
For more information about Religious Education & Youth Work Resource Friends, fill out the inquiry form.
Current Resource Friends
Ardythe Williams-Mitchell, she/her/hers
Ardythe Williams-Mitchell is a marketing professional with over 20 years of experience. She has been attending Moorestown Meeting for 5 years and has been teaching First Day School for 3 years. She attended Spelman College (BA) and NYU (MBA). In her free time she enjoys gardening and cooking.
Marty Smith, she/her/hers
Martha (Marty) grew up in Indiana and went to University of Cincinnati to be a fashion designer but came home after a year to study history and English at Butler University in Indianapolis. Marriage to Bill Smith took her back to Cincinnati, where she got a degree in elementary education. While her husband finished his MS and PhD, Marty taught in Lansing and Niles, Michigan. In the Peace Corps in Kenya in 1972, she taught primary school near Nairobi unil their first child was born, and then taught teaching techniques at Kenyatta Teacher’s College. They returned to the US in 1974 where her husband was a professor at Ohio Dominican College, which allowed Marty to care for their two young children and get an MA in math and science teaching from Ohio State University. In 1979 they moved to NJ to teach at Moorestown Friends School, after which Marty became director of Religious Education in 1991 for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Next, she was a Visiting Professor of Math and Science Education at St. Joseph’s University, after which she taught elementary science until retirement at Buckingham Friends School. The Smiths were Friends in Residence at Honolulu Friends Meeting 2012-2014 and moved into a Quaker retirement community in New Jersey in 2015. Marty continues to teach Middle School First-day School at Moorestown Meeting, 3rd gr. science in Camden and in November virtually facilitated a Basic Workshop for the Alternatives to Violence Project. During the Pandemic Marty has been technical host for ukulele practice at Lumberton Leas via Zoom.
