Quakers

Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, originally known as simply the Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after John 15:14 in the Bible. Originally, others referred to them as Quakers because the founder of the movement, George Fox, told a judge to "quake before the authority of God" along with their critics stating that they would shake or tremble while preaching. The Friends are generally united by a belief in each human's ability to be guided by the inward light to "make the witness of God" known to everyone. Quakers have traditionally professed a priesthood of all believers inspired by the First Epistle of Peter. To differing extents, the Friends avoid creeds and hierarchical structures. They include those with evangelical, holiness, liberal, orthodox, independent, and traditional Quaker understandings of Christianity. In 2017, there were an estimated 377,557 adult Quakers, 49% of them in Africa followed by 22% in North America. Some 11% of Quakers worldwide 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. This form of worship originated with the practices of George Fox and the early Friends, and is the dominant form in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Southern Africa and parts of the United States. Some 40% of the Quakers worldwide belong to the evangelical branch, which holds services with singing and a prepared Bible message coordinated by a pastor, with or without some period of silence. Their theology is largely consistent with evangelicalism framed in a Quaker context, and theirs is the dominant form of worship in most of Africa and parts of the United States, where it developed...