World Gathering of Young Friends

The World Gathering of Young Friends is the name of several gatherings of members of the Religious Society of Friends between the ages of 18-35. 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. Though these gatherings are the first that were truly worldwide in scope, they followed many gatherings of a similar sort of Friends from North America and Europe.

1985

<!-- Unsourced image removed: -->The WGYF was held in 1985 in Greensboro, North Carolina, on the campus of Guilford Collegethe official report was Visioning a future for Friends : , New Garden Friends' Meeting House & Guilford College, Greensboro, N. Carolina, USA, 19-27th Seventh month 1985. - London : World Gathering of Young Friends, 1986. ISBN 090185607X. An alternative title was "Let your lives speak"..

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. Many participants and organisers went on to take up key roles of leadership in their respective Yearly Meetings. 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.

2005

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