The Gathering of Friends is a week of Quaker community, open to everyone: Friends, their families, and newcomers!
Friends come together from across North America (and sometimes further) to deepen connection to one another and the Spirit. The Gathering is typically held on a college campus in late June through early July, and location changes from year to year.
All are welcome to attend the Gathering of Friends. Gathering attenders range from newborns to elders in their 90s and include both long-time Friends (mostly from the unprogrammed, liberal tradition), and those newer to the Quaker faith. In structure, it’s part conference and part family camp. In content, it provides an abundance of opportunities to learn about Quakerism, foster spiritual life, and to have fun.
I love going and meeting up with new and old f(F)riends from all across North America, learning new things, being spiritually nurtured and having fun. The six degrees of connection often end up being one or two, as I sit down with a new person and discover that we have someone in common.
Lynne Piersol, Swarthmore Friends Meeting
The 2026 FGC Gathering is coming up!
2026 FGC Gathering
July 7 – 12, 2026 in Burlington, Vermont
an in-person event for all ages
2026 Gathering Clerk Team
The clerks for the 2026 Gathering are Anne Pomeroy, Janet Gibian Hough, and Regina Renee Nyégbeh. They bring perspective from their work in human rights, faithfulness, Quaker practice, and community-building. FGC is grateful for the work of the Clerk Team!
2026 Gathering Theme
The theme for the 2026 Gathering is “A Window and a Door: A Prayer.” This theme is inspired by a poem by LVM Shelton. The poem talks about willingness, grounded connection, and hospitality to strangers. You can listen to LVM read the poem herself aloud in an archived recording.
2026 FGC Gathering Schedule At-a-Glance
This schedule is accurate as of February 2026 and is subject to change.
Worshipping multiple times each day, in community or by myself, opened up my heart afresh to the movement of the spirit. I talked, sang, ate, and even danced with other seekers from all over North America, finding that, in essence, their spiritual journeys were not so very different from my own.
Michelle Bellows
Read more about the history of The Gathering in the QuakerPress title A Gathering of Spirits: The Friends General Conferences 1896-1950.
Page last updated March 16, 2026.