Quakers

Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically <a href="/facts/Protestantism/NXja4K3g">Protestant Christian</a> set of <a href="/facts/Christian_denomination/rRQgoQd8">denominations</a>. Members refer to each other as Friends after John 15:14 in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers because the founder of the movement, <a href="/facts/George_Fox/UUcrMsrS">George Fox</a>, told a judge to "quake before the authority of God". The Friends are generally united by a belief in each human's ability to be guided by the <a href="/facts/Inward_light/znY9kvUs">inward light</a> to "make the witness of God" known to everyone. Quakers have traditionally professed a <a href="/facts/Priesthood_of_all_believers/JfQx5SGy">priesthood of all believers</a> inspired by the <a href="/facts/First_Epistle_of_Peter/yTVGkCGx">First Epistle of Peter</a>. They include those with <a href="/facts/Evangelical_Friends_Church_International/pAGxFbdo">evangelical</a>, <a href="/facts/Holiness_movement/IqQWHPeF">holiness</a>, liberal, and <a href="/facts/Conservative_Friends/j2oDhRIy">traditional Quaker</a> understandings of Christianity, as well as <a href="/facts/Nontheist_Quakers/K2AEWcwY">Nontheist Quakers</a>. To differing extents, the Friends avoid <a href="/facts/Creed/GQuXuXgm">creeds</a> and <a href="/facts/Hierarchical_structure/mYJyqFrG">hierarchical structures</a>. In 2017, there were an estimated 377,557 adult Quakers, 49% of them in <a href="/facts/Africa/XkqQUP9s">Africa</a> followed by 22% in <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a>.
Some 89% of Quakers worldwide belong to evangelical and programmed branches that hold services with singing and a prepared <a href="/facts/Bible/SqkRTKCh">Bible</a> message coordinated by a pastor (with the largest Quaker group being the <a href="/facts/Evangelical_Friends_Church_International/pAGxFbdo">Evangelical Friends Church International</a>). Some 11% practice waiting worship or unprogrammed worship (commonly Meeting for Worship), where the unplanned order of service is mainly silent and may include unprepared vocal ministry from those present. Some meetings of both types have <a href="/facts/Recorded_Minister/jD174yjk">Recorded Ministers</a> present, Friends recognised for their gift of vocal ministry.
The proto-evangelical Christian movement dubbed Quakerism arose in mid-17th-century England from the <a href="/facts/Legatine-Arians/E9Xsarq1">Legatine-Arians</a> and other <a href="/facts/English_Dissenters/o1nyFCcx">dissenting Protestant groups</a> breaking with the <a href="/facts/Established_church/K7E28FLL">established</a> <a href="/facts/Church_of_England/A1CoKeGz">Church of England</a>. The Quakers, especially the <a href="/facts/Valiant_Sixty/ujew8JjU">Valiant Sixty</a>, sought to convert others by travelling through Britain and overseas preaching the Gospel. Some early Quaker ministers were women. They based their message on a belief that "Christ has come to teach his people himself", stressing direct relations with God through <a href="/facts/Jesus_Christ/1q0H0m4n">Jesus Christ</a> and belief in the universal priesthood of all believers. This personal religious experience of <a href="/facts/Christ/Hcd9hEzI">Christ</a> was acquired by direct experience and by reading and studying the <a href="/facts/Bible/SqkRTKCh">Bible</a>. Friends focused their private lives on behaviour and speech reflecting emotional purity and the light of God, with a goal of <a href="/facts/Christian_perfection/H4gtzaLu">Christian perfection</a>. A prominent theological text of the Religious Society of Friends is A Catechism and Confession of Faith (1673), published by Quaker divine <a href="/facts/Robert_Barclay/mGPvc5QK">Robert Barclay</a>. The <a href="/facts/Richmond_Declaration/IYv90VS0">Richmond Declaration of Faith</a> (1887) was adopted by many Orthodox Friends and continues to serve as a doctrinal statement of many yearly meetings.
Quakers were known to use <a href="/facts/Thou/oKPIFrIU">thee</a> as an ordinary pronoun, <a href="/facts/Conscientious_objector/ovN3dAja">refuse to participate in war</a>, wear <a href="/facts/Plain_dress/lW3dPTBX">plain dress</a>, <a href="/facts/Oath/jswyhfwI">refuse to swear oaths</a>, <a href="/facts/Abolitionism/LDD5kEAc">oppose slavery</a>, and practice <a href="/facts/Teetotalism/p1Ufy5Kr">teetotalism</a>. Some Quakers founded banks and financial institutions, including <a href="/facts/Barclays/2M992GXz">Barclays</a>, <a href="/facts/Lloyds_Bank/k8XIMSeg">Lloyds</a>, and <a href="/facts/Friends_Provident/LH1BdPcb">Friends Provident</a>; manufacturers including the footwear firm of <a href="/facts/C._%26_J._Clark/ImUV6Ck6">C. & J. Clark</a> and the big three British <a href="/facts/Confectionery/7h760gLH">confectionery</a> makers <a href="/facts/Cadbury/TcDlR5dE">Cadbury</a>, <a href="/facts/Rowntree%27s/3N3jhbnW">Rowntree</a> and <a href="/facts/J._S._Fry_%26_Sons/UdLH4J7H">Fry</a>; and philanthropic efforts, including abolition of slavery, <a href="/facts/Prison_reform/ADYoXaQc">prison reform</a>, and <a href="/facts/Social_justice/yPVcRR0w">social justice</a>. In 1947, in recognition of their dedication to peace and the common good, Quakers represented by the British <a href="/facts/Friends_Service_Council/qd6IBu7b">Friends Service Council</a> and the <a href="/facts/American_Friends_Service_Committee/c04l7KR0">American Friends Service Committee</a> were awarded the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Peace_Prize/2wVhmLrX">Nobel Peace Prize</a>.

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Quakers