Quakers

Quakers George Fox founded the Society of Friends in England about 1647. Called Quakers because they trembled in the Lord’s presence, they premised their beliefs on the Inner Light, eliminated all formal sacraments, had no trained clergy, refused to show deference to any rank of society, insisted on absolute separation of church and state, and would neither swear oaths nor perform military service. They experienced frequent persecution before 1700, including the execution by Mass. of Mary Dyer and four others between 1659 and 1661.

West Jersey and Pennsylvania were founded as Quaker refuges. Although N.J. and Pa. became predominantly non-Quaker after 1700, Quakers (or Friends) dominated the Pa. assembly to 1757 and were the largest voting bloc in the N.J. assembly to 1772. They were the only denomination to enforce abolitionism on members. Quakers made few converts after 1700 and lost many members because of their strict discipline. By 1800 they numbered only 50,000, about 1.2 percent of all whites, and were mainly concentrated in Pa. and N.J.

In 1827 schism split the Quakers into Orthodox and Hicksite factions over the doctrines of Elias Hicks, who exalted the Inner Light above scripture and revealed tradition. The Orthodox party again divided in 1845, when a similar dispute provoked a secession by John Wilbur’s followers in a debate over Joseph J. Gurney’s efforts to enhance scriptural authority over the Inner Light. The number of Quaker meetings rose from 350 in 1820 to 726 in 1860, and 1,031 in 1900, but membership has stagnated between 100,000 and 130,000 since 1840. Formed in 1917 to aid conscientious objectors, the American Friends Service Committee received the Nobel peace prize in 1947. In 1990 the five Quaker associations had 1,405 meetings and 118,070 members (0.1 percent of all churchgoers).