The Religious Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, emerged during the religious warfare of seventeenth century England and soon thereafter arrived in America. In the ensuring 350 years of history, schisms and divisions have disintegrated the once united Society of Friends. These divisions are disheartening to Friends, as well as confusing to newcomers. The following is intended to orient newcomers to understanding these divisions.
The primary division among Friends in the United States revolved around the rightful place of individualism in Quakerism. Those who sought to increase individualism were known as "Hicksites," while those who sought to defend traditional Quaker understandings were known as "the Orthodox." The Hicksite-Orthodox schism split the Society of Friends with about 60% of Friends being Orthodox and 40% being Hicksite. These splits began in 1827. Over the ensuing decades, the Orthodox Friends themselves split as some Friends advocated the incorporation of mainstream Protestant theology and practices, while other Friends resisted. Those Orthodox Friends who sought to move towards the Protestant mainstream were known as "Gurneyites," while those Orthodox Friends who sought to defend traditional Quaker understandings were known as "the Conservatives." (The earliest Conservatives were known as "Wilburites.") By the beginning of the 20th century, Conservative Orthodox were outnumbered by the Gurneyite Orthodox by about 8:1. Gurneyite Friends eventually incorporated programming in worship and professional pastors, and many incorporated elements of Wesleyan Holiness theology.
As a result of these schisms, there are four primary divisions among contemporary Friends:
LIBERAL FRIENDS. Liberalism among Friends can be traced to the Hicksite defense of spiritual individualism. The spiritual freedom of individual Friends is perhaps the most important principle of liberal Quakerism. Liberalism among Friends, however, has a second source, which is found in Gurneyite Quakerism. One of the groups of Gurneyite Friends who objected to the “holiness” and “revivalist” influences on Gurneyites became a progressive, liberal influence in Quakerism. Their liberalism sought to make Quakerism consistent with the best trends in science, education, arts, and politics. Liberalism among Friends today is found among both unprogrammed meetings and pastoral meetings. It has been substantially influenced by mainstream liberal theology, politics, and culture. Pastoral liberal Friends tend to be affiliated with Friends United Meeting, while unprogrammed liberal Friends tend to be affiliated with Friends General Conference or one of the “independent” western yearly meetings (e.g., Pacific Yearly Meeting).
UNIVERSALIST FRIENDS. Rufus Jones was a liberal Gurneyite Friend who claimed that the early Quakers were mystics who had only nominal convictions about Jesus of Nazareth. Although Jones identified as a Christian, his writings paved the way for the growth of universalism among Friends. Quaker universalism describes Quakerism as a mystical spirituality that transcends Christianity and other religions. For the universalist, Quakerism is a method that can be shared by spiritual seekers of all the world’s religions and those who claim no religion. Among universalist Quakers are those who self-describe as Buddhist-Quaker, Pagan-Quaker, Jewish-Quaker, Wiccan-Quaker, and Non-Theist-Quaker. Those universalist Quakers who identify themselves as Christians usually prefer the term “Christocentric Quaker.” Universalist Quakerism, in this sense, is almost entirely confined to unprogrammed meetings affiliated with Friends General Conference or one of the “independent” western yearly meetings (e.g., Intermountain Yearly Meeting).
EVANGELICAL FRIENDS. While some pastoral meetings are liberal Christian congregations with many similarities to mainline liberal denominations, most pastoral meetings are evangelical. Some of these Friends identify more with the wider evangelical movement than Quakerism, though other evangelical Friends value their Quaker identity at least as much as their evangelical one. Some evangelical Friends also identify with the Wesleyan Holiness movement or the Fundamentalist movement, as well. Most evangelical congregations are affiliated with Evangelical Friends International, while many are affiliated with Friends United Meeting.
CONSERVATIVE FRIENDS. Conservative Friends believe themselves to have preserved the essence of historic Quakerism, understood, at a minimum, to be unprogrammed worship and a Christian identity. However, conservative Friends are, by no means, un-influenced by the larger movements among Friends. Perhaps conservative Friends might be best understood as the group least influenced by the other movements – but influenced nonetheless. Thus, there are conservative versions of liberal, universalist, and evangelical Friends, but they tend to be more moderate than their counterparts in other Quaker branches. The result is considerable diversity among “conservative” Friends. Those who continue to find the witness of early Friends the most consistent with their own experiences are, of course, the most conservative of the conservatives, but, as has been true since the Hicksite separations, the least in number. There are three conservative yearly meetings, none of which are affiliated with a larger body of Friends. However, the term “conservative” is also claimed by individual Friends in other yearly meetings.
To read more about Friends’ history and current diversity and division, see:
T.H.S. Wallace, Misunderstanding Quaker Faith and Practice
http://www.michiganquakers.org/misunderstanding.oym.htm
T.H.S. Wallace, The Scriptures and Salvation
http://www.michiganquakers.org/Wallace.htm
Lloyd Lee Wilson, Wrestling With Our Faith Tradition
http://www.ncymc.org/journal/ncymcjournal3.pdf
A Short History of Conservative Friends
http://snowcamp.org/shocf/
Lewis Benson, Universal Quakerism (previously published as Catholic Quakerism) (New Foundation Fellowship)
Douglas Gwyn, Apocalypse of the Word (Friends United Meeting)
Thomas Hamm, Quakers in America (Columbia Press)
Thomas Hamm, Transformation of American Quakerism (Indiana University Press)
Caprock Friends Christian Fellowship
Conservative Quakers in Lubbock, Texas
