World Gathering of Young Friends

There have been two gatherings by this name; the first in 1985 in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, and the second in 2005 in Lancaster, England, and Mombasa, Kenya.

[1] Seen as a defining moment for the Religious Society of Friends worldwide, this gathering is generally considered to be the beginning of the thawing of many of the strained relationships which exist amongst divided theologies of Quakers around the world.

The epistle from the 1985 WGYF and the report of the process of its creation get cited in many Quaker contexts and it makes inspiring reading, whatever one's background may be.

They studied and learnt from their heritage, shared their present-day expressions of faith, and tried to discern how Christ is guiding them to facilitate understanding within the Quaker family.

By sharing experiences of living Quaker testimony from their varied cultures, they sought to ask humbly for guidance and to open themselves to the possibility of transformation.