Quakers: the Religious Society of Friends

Where did Friends come from?

Quakerism began in seventeenth-century England amid civil war and intense debate about religion. George Fox and other early Friends taught that the living Christ could guide people directly, rather than only through an established clergy or inherited ceremonies. Women as well as men preached. Their challenges to religious and social authority brought persecution. “Friends” became their preferred name, while “Quakers,” originally a mocking label, also remained. Quakers in Britain describe these beginnings.

What do they emphasize?

Friends commonly speak of the Light: a way of describing divine guidance and the worth of each person. Early Friends understood this through Christ; contemporary Friends explain it in different ways. Their “testimonies” are commitments expressed in conduct, such as truthfulness, simplicity, equality, and peace. Here a testimony is a commitment expressed through the way a person lives. Seeking guidance together involves listening to other people as well as attending to one's own experience.

What happens in a meeting?

In unprogrammed worship, people gather in stillness without a prepared sermon or fixed order. Someone may speak briefly when they feel led to offer a message. Programmed worship includes a planned service, often with a pastor, hymns, Bible readings, and preaching. Some gatherings combine both forms. Local meetings or churches are connected through larger bodies often called yearly meetings. A “meeting” can therefore mean the worship gathering, the local community, or a regional organization; it does not always mean a silent service.

Are all Quakers Christian?

The movement's roots are Christian, and evangelical and many pastoral Friends remain explicitly Christian. Conservative Friends seek to preserve earlier Quaker practices and a Christian identity. Some liberal meetings include Christians alongside people drawing on other religions or identifying as non-theist, meaning they do not affirm a personal God. See Friends General Conference's explanation of the branches and British Friends' account of belief. No single modern statement describes all Friends. Practices concerning outward baptism and communion also differ; many Friends emphasize inward spiritual experience instead. Explore the wider debates about religious authority and communion.