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George Fox is generally called the founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). In the mid-17th century, he was a young man who wandered around England talking with priests, religious scholars and others seeking to find religious meaning. Generally, he found that those to whom he spoke had a lot of intellectual knowledge, but did not seem to really have a true connection with God. His Journal of George Fox reported the following experience he had after several years of this search:
And when all my hopes in them and all men were gone. . . I heard a voice which said, "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition," and when I heard it, my heart did leap for joy.
Later, Fox felt led to climb a "great hill" called Pendle Hill in northern England where he had a vision of "a great people to be gathered." He became an itinerant preacher, telling people they could learn directly from their true Teacher, Jesus Christ. Christ would convict them of their sins and provide them with the possibility of living a life free from sin.
As he was traveling across northern England, he came upon a dissenting Christian group about which there is little historical record, and even what they called themselves is unknown although they are sometimes referred to as the "Westmoreland Seekers." This group worshipped without any priests or paid leadership, settling into silence with any who felt moved by the Holy Spirit offering vocal ministry. They apparently had several congregations. Fox came to a general meeting of this group. The elders of this group examined him, and found him doctrinally sound. He then became the accepted spiritual leader of the movement. Under Fox' leadership, the group became known as Publishers of Truth and eventually the Religious Society of Friends. Thus his work of gathering a people initially involved gathering already organized groups of people.
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