Every month our newsletter includes a section called Wider Quaker World.  It is not nearly as inclusive as it might ideally be, but it does begin to give us a hint of the presence of Quakers throughout this country and around the world.  There are not many of us, but we are nearly everywhere, and wherever Quakers are, they are actively seeking change: more equality, better responses to conflict, deeper communication between people, and a less exploitive relationship with the biological world we live in.  In other words, Quakers around the world are daily seeking to implement our testimonies: equality, peace, integrity, and simplicity.

It is always gratifying to meet other Quakers and discover how easy it is to fall into a conversation about what really matters. Whether you are attending meeting in a strange city, staying with complete strangers who have opened their doors to you simply because you are Friends, or joining in Quaker conferences, Gatherings, or Yearly Meetings, you inevitably find people who share your concerns and much of your worldview. No matter how often it happens, it is wonderfully reassuring to be reminded that you are not alone.

One of the reasons why it is something of a surprise to find out about this extensive network of Friends is that Quakers do not have an organizational hierarchy. George Fox's reform was as thorough as it could be; he not only turned the laity into ministers, he found no need for a central administration to define the orthodoxy and keep the faithful in line as every other Christian church up to that time had done.

Where can we find the Quaker center? If we look at our history, we might expect it to be London, but it is not in London.  It is not even in the north country of England where George Fox met Margaret Fell. Remember, Quaker faith arose in the English world at a time when that world included the English colonies in America.  George Fox visited the colonies, some of the Quaker martyrs were colonists and some of the oldest Meeting Houses in the entire world are found in Pennsylvania, New England and New York.  But neither in England nor in New England is there any equivalent of the Morman Tabernacle in Salt Lake City or the Papal Curia of Rome.  Where then is the center of our faith?  It is simply in the hearts of Friends wherever they may be: Kenya, Costa Rica, Moscow, or Memphis.

Among American Friends today there are not many birthright Friends.  Most of us are convinced Friends.  (A birthright Friend is born to Quaker parents; a convinced Friend is someone who discovers that Quaker Faith and Practice "speaks to his/her condition" later in life.)  For convinced Friends who find a meeting and begin to attend worship and then perhaps business meeting, potlucks and meetings for learning, it is often a slow process to become aware of all the many Quaker networks which connect us all across the globe.

Most of us do not have the luxury of frequent travel in our busy middle years.  In fact, many Friends find their wider calling later in life after the demands of a career and raising children have passed.  There is a rich reward for Quakers who seek it: discovering other Friends, the lives they are living, and the work they are doing.