What are the roots of the religion "Quakers." How was it founded, and how has it stood during the course of hi

Question

What are the roots of the religion "Quakers." How was it founded, and how has it stood during the course of history? Where and by whom is it practiced today?

Answer 1

The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, was founded in England in the 17th century as a Christian religious denomination by people who were dissatisfied with the existing denominations and sects of Christianity. Historians generally credit George Fox with being the principal co-founder or most important early leader. The Society of Friends is counted among the historic peace churches.

The Religious Society of Friends began in England in 1648, as a Nonconformist breakaway movement from English Puritanism.

In 1827 a division occurred within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting when its members could not agree on a person to be named its clerk.

The Orthodox Friends in America were exercised by a transatlantic dispute between Joseph John Gurney of England and John Wilbur of Rhode Island.

Joel Bean was an Orthodox Friend who opposed the extreme evangelicalism that was creeping into his branch of Quakerism. He formed a new branch of Quakerism in the western part of the United States when his membership was terminated and his meeting was laid down by Iowa Yearly Meeting.

The "Beanite", or independent, Quakers resemble an amalgam of Hicksite and Wilburite Quakerism. During the 1980s some of them adopted the label "Christ-Centered Universalism".

The highest concentration of Quakers is in Africa. The Friends of East Africa were at one time part of a single East Africa Yearly Meeting, then the largest Yearly Meeting in the world. Today, this region is served by several distinct Yearly Meetings. Most of these are affiliated with the Friends United Meeting, practice programmed worship, and employ pastors. There are also Friends meetings in Rwanda and Burundi, as well as new work beginning in Morocco. For more information see Quakers in Kenya.

In Australia
Considerable distances between the colonies, and a low immigration of Quakers, meant that the organization of Friends in Australia was quite dependent on London until the twentieth century. The Society has remained unprogrammed and is constituted as the Australia Yearly Meeting, with local organization around seven Regional Meetings: Canberra (which extends into southern New South Wales), New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia (which extends into Northern Territory), Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. There is an annual meeting each January hosted by a different Regional Meeting over a seven year cycle, with a Standing Committee each July or August.

In Great Britain
Friends in Britain have maintained a high level of unity throughout the history of the Society. In very recent years, however, small Quaker Meetings have come into existence which are characterised by a more avowedly Christian faith. These meetings are not part of the organisation of the main body of Quakers in Great Britain: Britain Yearly Meeting.

The local Friends meetings are called preparative meetings. Several local meetings are part of a monthly meeting. (In 2007, however, these historical names are due to be simplified into 'Local' and 'Area' meetings). Several monthly meetings are organized into a general meeting. Formerly, general meetings were called quarterly meetings, and, while they continue to meet up to three times per year, they usually play no direct role in Quaker structures. Monthly meetings are represented directly in Meeting for Sufferings, which meets in between Yearly meetings.


In the United States
Friends in the United States have diverse practices, though united by many common bonds. Along with the division of worship style (see "Quaker Worship" above) come several differences of theology, vocabulary and practice.

A local congregation in the unprogrammed tradition is called a meeting, or a monthly meeting (e.g., Smalltown Meeting or Smalltown Monthly Meeting). Several local monthly meetings are often part of a regional group called a quarterly meeting, which is usually part of an even larger group called a yearly meeting.

In programmed traditions, the local congregations are often referred to as "Friends Churches".

Answer 2

http://www.quaker.org/#1

The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, was founded in England in the 17th century as a Christian religious denomination by people who were dissatisfied with the existing denominations and sects of Christianity. Historians generally credit George Fox with being the principal co-founder or most important early leader.[1] The Society of Friends is counted among the historic peace churches.

The various branches have widely divergent beliefs and practices, but the central concept to many Friends is the "Inner Light". Accordingly, individual Quakers may develop individual religious beliefs arising from their personal conscience and revelation coming from "God within"; further, Quakers feel obliged to live by such individual religious beliefs and inner revelations.

Many Quakers feel their faith does not fit within traditional Christian categories of Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, but is an expression of another way of experiencing God.

Answer 3

The other co-founder was Margaret Fell. I learned about her through exposure to a rather weird it of oral history I stumbled upon in South Philadelphia in 1970. Two Italian-American, Roman Catholic school girls were skipping rope and singing a piece of doggerel:
" I do not like thee Margaret Fell
The reason is I canot tell.
But, one thing that I know quite well
Is I do not like thee Margaret Fell.".
That doggerel was part of the British Crown's indictment against Margaret Fell and George Fox. It had passed down, from the early Quaker days in Philadelphia, into the recreational lives of two young girls three centuries later!

Answer 4

If you have a chance to visit a Quaker settlement, I would recommend it. There is one in Kentucky that the girls and I went to. It was absolutely fascinating to see everything first hand. A quick look at a AAA guide will show you where the place is.