Over the course of his journey, as Fox met others searching for a more direct spiritual experience, he came to believe that the presence of God was found within people rather than in churches. Fox shared his religious beliefs and epiphanies with others, speaking to increasingly larger gatherings.
Even though his views were viewed by some as a threat to society and he was jailed for blasphemy in , Fox and other early Quakers continued to share their beliefs. In , he met Margaret Fell, who went on to become another leader in the early Quaker movement. Her home, Swarthmoor Hall in northwest England, served as a gathering place for many of the first Quakers. Fox and Fell married in Members are referred to as Friends or Quakers.
Quakerism continued to spread across Britain during the s, and by there were around 50, Quakers, according to some estimates. A number of Quaker beliefs were considered radical, such as the idea that women and men were spiritual equals, and women could speak out during worship.
Based on their interpretation of the Bible , Quakers were pacifists and refused to take legal oaths. Central to their beliefs was the idea that everyone had the Light of Christ within them. Fox spent much of the s behind bars, and by the s thousands of Quakers across the British Isles had suffered decades of whippings, torture and imprisonment.
Quaker missionaries arrived in North America in the mids. The first was Elizabeth Harris, who visited Virginia and Maryland. By the early s, more than 50 other Quakers had followed Harris. However, as they moved throughout the colonies, they continued to face persecution in certain places, particularly in Puritan-dominated Massachusetts , where several Quakers - later known as the Boston Martyrs - were executed during the s and s. Penn, who had been jailed multiple times for his Quaker beliefs, went on to found Pennsylvania as a sanctuary for religious freedom and tolerance.
Relations between the two groups weren't always friendly, however, as many Quakers insisted upon Native American assimilation into Western culture. Quakers strongly believe in the sanctity of marriage but also recognise the value of non-marital relationships and the single life.
Their weddings are very informal compared to those from other traditions and there is no priest or minister to lead the couple as they make their vows.
When a Quaker couple decide to marry, they make a commitment to each other in the presence of God, their family and friends. Quakers believe that no one but God can join a couple in matrimony. They see marriage as more than a legal contract - it is a religious commitment. The right joining in marriage is the work of the Lord only, and not the priest's or magistrate's; for it is God's ordinance and not man's The couple promise to be loving companions and take each other as lifelong partners in a spirit of freedom and equality.
Most couples will book their local Quaker meeting house although some may choose to hold their wedding at home or another alternative venue.
A Quaker marriage is a community celebration and not just a ceremony for the couple. Therefore the style of worship at the wedding service must be acceptable to the wider community. The wedding ceremony is usually held within a simple meeting for worship.
It has no set order of service or sermon. In most cases, the finer details of the ceremony are decided through discussion with the marriage registering officers and community elders. If both parties are Quakers or regularly attend monthly meetings, they may marry in a Quaker marriage ceremony. Couples who are registered as 'attenders' but not yet members of the Religious Society of Friends would be expected to have attended meetings for a number of months before making an application for marriage.
Where one member of the couple is not a Quaker, or divorced , two adult members of the Society must give written permission before the marriage can take place. The first step in the official process is a meeting for clearness. Clearness in this context means helping the couple affirm their decision to marry. The meeting gives them the chance to discuss their relationship with other members of the community.
At least six weeks before the wedding date, the couple must make an application to the registering officer of the monthly meeting where the marriage ceremony is due to be held. The monthly meeting must approve the application before the registering officer, who is recognised by law, makes arrangements for the public notices and other legal requirements.
The monthly meeting then holds a Meeting for Worship for the Solemnisation of Marriage to confirm that the wedding can go ahead. Quaker marriages can be held at any time of day. Public notice of the wedding is posted on the door of the venue a week before the wedding. The bride is not usually given away by her father. Neither is it customary to have a best man or bridesmaids. The bride and groom will normally enter the meeting room together with friends and then quietly take their seats.
Sometimes they may come in when everyone else is seated. In the past, guests used to stand as the couple entered but these days this rarely happens. Quaker worship and ceremonies are relaxed so the bride, groom and their guests will usually dress smartly but informally.
Men, for example, may wear a jacket or tie, but will often dress more informally. Women may choose a skirt or other reasonably smart clothes. Like other Quaker meetings, the wedding service is mostly held in silence but anyone who feels moved by the Spirit can speak or pray. Divorced people may be allowed to remarry at the discretion of the members of the monthly meeting. The Quakers have welcomed same-sex unions for more than two decades, allowing local groups to celebrate same-sex commitments through special acts of worship.
In July , at the Britain Yearly Meeting, Quakers agreed to carry out same-sex marriages on the same basis as marriages for opposite-sex couples. The question of legal recognition by the state is secondary. A Quaker funeral has two particular aims: to thank God for the life that has been lived, and to help the mourners feel a deep sense of God's presence. Because they are thankful for having known the dead person, Quaker mourners tend not to wear black.
The funeral can follow the normal silent pattern of Quaker worship, or it can include programmed elements. At a meeting following the silent pattern the contributions are likely to include memories as well as prayers or readings.
A senior person will normally begin the meeting with a brief explanation of Quaker worship if there are many non-Quakers present. In addition to the funeral there can be a "meeting for worship on the occasion of the death of our Friend". The Quakers are organised through a series of meetings. While there are actual meetings the word is used here to refer to the groups of people who meet to look after particular functions.
The meetings are named after the frequency with which a group meets. The structure is organised at local level Preparative Meetings , smaller and larger district levels Monthly and General Meetings and national level Yearly Meeting. Individual Quaker Meetings carry out matters of business and administration at "Meetings for Worship with a Concern for Business". The whole of such a meeting, even the most nit-pickingly detailed section, is regarded as worship.
These meetings begin with silence. When the Clerk judges the time is right, he or she summarises the agenda before the meeting, provides any necessary background information, and lays the first item before the meeting. People stand up to show they wish to speak, and are called by the Clerk.
The traditional formula for raising an issue is to begin "I have a Concern The decision is not based on a majority or a consensus, but on the "sense of the meeting". Once a minute has been drafted and read out members can suggest modifications. Meetings try not to take decisions by a majority vote, or even by reaching a consensus; they wait until "the right way will open and we shall be led into unity.
Our own experience leads us to affirm that the church can be so ordered that the guidance of the Holy Spirit can be known and followed without the need for a separated clergy. Some members may be appointed as elders because a meeting recognises that they have the ability to serve in a particular way.
Appointment as an elder doesn't mean that the person is in any way superior to anyone else. Such appointments are for three years and can be renewed. Search term:. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets CSS if you are able to do so.
This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. Quakers Last updated There are about , Quakers across the world. The essence of the Quakers Quakers believe that there is something of God in everybody and that each human being is of unique worth.
Other notable Quakers include author James Michener, philanthropist Johns Hopkins and John Cadbury, founder of the chocolate company having his name. History of Quakerism History. This article is part of our Denomination Series listing historical facts and theological information about different factions within and from the Christian religion.
We provide these articles to help you understand the distinctions between denominations including origin, leadership, doctrine, and beliefs. Explore the various characteristics of different denominations from our list below! Share this. Who Are the Quakers? More in Denominations What is Calvinism? What Is the Orthodox Church? History and Beliefs of Orthodoxy Archives. Today on Christianity. Is Thanksgiving Truly a Christian Holiday? About Christianity. The surviving Rwandese were traumatized and destabilized.
The young Friends Church of Rwanda, founded only eight years previously, accepted the challenge this posed, and has taken an active part in the rehabilitation of Rwandese society ever since. They are enlisting Friends to help do trainings in the Alternatives to Violence Project.
Ever since , Evangelical and liberal Friends have been working together in the African Great Lakes Initiative to do a variety of peacemaking efforts: trauma healing, community organizing training, conflict resolution training, compassionate listening. I was not only impressed by how Kenyan Friends live out the Quaker Peace Testimony, I was also intrigued by their theological understanding.
I will tell you a mystery. Many people in this world are practicing Quakerism without being aware of it. Some have never heard of it and yet they are practicing it. Even our great-grandparents might have practiced Quakerism long before missionaries came here. Quakerism is a religion of the soul, the indwelling Spirit, the light within, the light of Christ, the Seed. It is the religion similar to that of James, the practical apostle, whose letter was a favorite with Quakers.
When Quaker Missionaries came to Africa, and revealed Quakerism to our people, many lesser-known individuals discovered that they had been Quakers long before they had heard of this new movement. They had been caring for one another with compassion, they had aided each other in times of need and trouble and they had been providing companionship in their small communities.
They had elders in their communities who handled conflict resolution through dialogue and counseling. Those who were offended were encouraged to reconcile with their offenders and so they forgave one another, loved their neighbors and exercised fairness and justice in their societies.
Reading this passage, I wondered: If Friends cannot unite around theology, could we instead unite around practices like peacemaking and social justice? We need to share our stories, listen to those we disagree with, and be open to a change of heart. We also need to seek common ground wherein we can put our faith into practice. He is currently completing a book about Howard and Anna Brinton. His blog is laquaker.
And I think we can communicate with those in the ecumenical and interfaith movement, as well as our neighbors of other faiths, when we feel comfortable talking about theology among ourselves in a Friendly, non-exclusive way….
If Friends cannot unite around theology, could we instead unite around practices like peacemaking and social justice? I just wanted to point something out and let you know i didnt even get past your first paragraph. This is an incorrect statement. The only thing the Gospel of John makes clear is that Christ had a hand in creating all things. The Gospels make it clear that only those who have accepted Christ have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.
We all have training and personal beliefs. Love of life, a belief, is to be in each sane individual on earth. What is believed, can be false in reality. However, an attorney at Buzgon-Davis has explained the four Judges in the Lebanon County Court, Pennsylvania that will automatically disregard a twenty year lease, once materials from a flooded home is seen in a picture of a Manufactured Home and the leased lot.
What we have faith in, may or may not be true. The lessor was trained in a Mennonite School and lied before a District Magistrate, at least twice, after taking a vow to tell the truth with the left hand on the Bible. In the United States, the apparent God is money. The real reason for this, is artificial value of the property to keep real estate taxes higher.
There is total disregard for natural landscaping and the high level of air pollution created by machines used to meet the regulations. To many Christians, this is the right thing to do, to keep the value of their homes and even church buildings at higher levels. With belief in the Quaker Universalist Fellowship, plus similar to Africans presented by Anthony Manousos, practicing Quakerism before joining, this individual has finally found a permanent Honor as a Quaker.
Great article. I do feel we have much to learn from each other, yet theology is profoundly important to me. It has been said that Evangelical Friends are a politically diverse group bound together by a unified theology, and liberal Friends are a theologically diverse group bound together by the politics of social justice. I am one of those who want to have it both ways.
I firmly believe that the gospel is important and that social justice is an expression of the gospel lived out. For me, true Quakerism must embrace not only the theology of social justice embraced by early Friends but the theology of the Gospel from which these expression arose.
While we have divided further along a spectrum over time, I find it odd to be accused by liberal Friends of not being Quaker enough because I have definitive theological beliefs and attend a programmed meeting, when they have virtually turned their back on the theology of early Friends. While many liberal Friends have been more faithful to early Friends worship practices and social justice concerns, I have found a lot of intolerance for someone who gets to the same sorts of practices theologically, though the Bible.
How can one person who reveres the name of God speak to those who are offended by it? Shane Claiborne and Ron Mock are heroes to me. They take the Bible seriously and let it shape them with its redemptive message.
I too have been shaped powerfully by God through the Bible, as well as by mystical experience. For me, doing good alongside a non-Christocentric Quaker is still good, but what I would rather have is a shared vision of what it means to be working toward the inbreaking Kingdom of God.
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