Spreading the Fire

In earlier times, far-flung Quaker meetings would look for spiritual deepening in the visits of traveling ministers. Individual Friends, experiencing a call to visit distant meetings, sought counsel from their own meetings, and when approval was granted, would arrive with a letter of endorsement to be welcomed by local Friends, who would gather to worship and receive whatever message was offered to them through the visitor. In modern times, this practice has mostly vanished, but not entirel...