In the first years of the Quaker movement, pairs of minister-evangelists set out from England to places around the world, crossing oceans and continents on trips that lasted months or years, to deliver the Quaker message as widely as they could. They crossed cultural and linguistic barriers apparently without hesitation, speaking the Truth that God gave them. In every person, they saw the potential for convincement and repentance. Oliver Cromwell, the pope, and the sultan of Turkey were all potential Quakers to the ministers who visited and preached to them.

The evangelical enthusiasm of Quakerism's first generation did not immediately result in the global movement those Friends envisioned. In fact, for the 200 years that followed, the vast majority of Quakerism's population and institutions remained within the United States and Great Britain. However, a renewed interest in international evangelism, beginning around the turn of the 20th century, is reflected today in a global Quaker population that spans every continent, including large numbers in east Africa and South America.

Despite our small size as a denomination, and the increasing connectedness of a globalized world, the lines of communication among Friends in different countries are often thin and sometimes nonexistent. The logistical and financial barriers of international travel make it hard for us to meet face-to-face. The interactions that we have are challenged by differences of theology, culture, language, ideology, communication style, and class status.

How do we discuss and address these challenges in a way that is honest and authentic, that serves to move forward our understanding of one another, that builds our relationships, and ultimately strengthens our religious society? The first generation saw Quakers everywhere. Many of us have become so preoccupied with difference that we have trouble even seeing each other as Quaker. How do we come to see more clearly? How can we best be present to the trials and the joys of this bridge-building work? How can we begin to know each other in our difference, and in the Presence that is our unity?

This summary was written by Kody Hersh, who is a member of Miami Monthly Meeting.