Evangelical Friends International - History

History

The Society of Friends suffered a series of schisms in the early 19th Century. The first divided "Hicksite" Quakers, who believed the inward light was more important than scriptural authority, from "Orthodox" Quakers, who emphasized Biblical sources. The second divided the Orthodox branch into "Wilburite" or conservative Friends, who preferred a quietist approach and disavowed Biblical inerrancy, from "Gurneyite" Friends, whose approach was deeply influenced by evangelical movements in other Protestant denominations, especially the ideas of John Wesley. These Gurneyite Friends formed Five Years Meeting (renamed Friends United Meeting in 1965) as an association of yearly meetings following the adoption of the Richmond Declaration in 1877.

After World War I, growing desire for a more fundamentalist approach among some Friends began to split Five Years Meeting. In 1926, Northwest Yearly Meeting withdrew from the organization, bringing several other yearly meetings and scattered monthly meetings. In 1947, the Association of Evangelical Friends was formed, with triennial meetings which lasted until 1970. This led in turn to the 1965 formation of the Evangelical Friends Association, a precursor to today's Evangelical Friends Church International, formed in 1989.