Visitation

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.

1 Corinthians 13:12a

Visitation is the essential work of FWCC. Visitation is like opening windows and letting the light of understanding shine in. Through visitation, Friends meet “face-to-face and heart-to-heart” to share both that which unites and that which divides them in the life of the Spirit. With God’s help, open exchange builds understanding, respect, trust and love, and renews awareness of a world-wide family of Friends.

For many years FWCC Section of the Americas has sponsored visitation principally to Yearly Meetings across North America. Gradually, this has come to include more and more visitation exchanges between Latin American and US/Canadian Friends. Our goal is to further draw the strands of Quakerism in the Americas together into the rich tapestry that is the Religious Society of Friends.

Visitors to Yearly Meeting sessions in North America are selected by the Visitation Planning Committee at Annual Meeting in March. Other visitation is determined by the office staff. FWCC sponsors visitors who express concerns that are deeply rooted in the Spirit, and who can transcend differences and division to seek broader unity in the Light.

Learn more about becoming a visitor.

 

Yearly Meeting Visitation

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What Do People Say about Visitation?

“Many Canadian Friends are well informed about FWCC; a number of others welcomed the chance to learn more about our section’s work. . . . I felt much harmony with Canadian ways of being Friends and became better informed about the Canadian sense of being different from U.S. Quakers. ”

“What I continue to experience in FWCC is that each group of Friends has maintained some of what was essential in the original, “primitive Christianity revived,” while adopting or absorbing teachings and practices from the world around us. When we come together we discover what is truly essential, what is merely helpful or preferable to one group or another, and what may in fact be errors which hinder us from clearly discerning and answering God’s call”

—David Male, Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative), visiting Central Yearly Meeting in the summer of 2004

 

“One of the things that I experienced was a renewed love for my yearly meeting. NWYM’s members have a very wide range of opinions and beliefs on issues. And while this can make for long and sometimes frustrating business, it’s all part of ‘us’ and valuable for the seeking and hearing of God’s heart.”

—Patty Federighi, Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends Church, on her visit to North Pacific Yearly Meeting in 2004

 

“My previous experience with yearly meeting sessions has been limited to those of my own yearly meeting, North Pacific Yearly Meeting, and occasional visits to Intermountain Yearly Meeting. While this more urban yearly meeting was somewhat different, with more coming and going, it was . . . quite similar to sessions I’ve experienced elsewhere, including gathered worship in plenaries, great workshops and small groups, shared meals, and lively children.”

—Tom Head, North Pacific Yearly Meeting, on his visit to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting sessions in March, 2004