Friends United Meeting
Encyclopedia
Friends United Meeting is an association of twenty-six yearly meeting
s of the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers) in North America
, Africa
, and the Caribbean
. In addition there are several individual Monthly meetings and organizations that are members of FUM. FUM's headquarters is in Richmond, Indiana
, and has offices in Kisumu
, Kenya
.
There are three other main branches within Quakerism, two of them represented by parallel organizations (Friends General Conference
and Evangelical Friends International
); the third (Conservative Friends
) has no single unifying organization. Of these four branches, FUM has the largest number of individual members. In 2005, there were 42,680 members in 427 congregations in the United States. The Friends United Meeting is responsible for much of the growth of Quakerism in Africa
and Latin America
.
in 1887, Five Years Meeting was established in 1902 by a collection of orthodox yearly meetings.
After World War I
, growing desire for a more fundamentalist approach began to split Five Years Meeting. in 1926, Northwest Yearly Meeting withdrew from the organization, leading several other yearly meetings and scattered monthly meetings. In 1947, the Association of Evangelical Friends was formed, which led in turn to the 1965 formation of the Evangelical Friends Association, a precursor to today's Evangelical Friends International
, formed in 1989.
During the 1950s many yearly meetings in North America
reunited and became joint members of Five Years Meeting and Friends General Conference.
In 1963 Five Years Meeting was renamed Friends United Meeting.
Yearly Meeting
Yearly Meeting is a term used by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, to refer to an organization composed of a collection of smaller, more frequent constituent meetings within a geographical area. These constituent meetings go by various names such as Quarterly Meetings, which...
s of the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers) in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. In addition there are several individual Monthly meetings and organizations that are members of FUM. FUM's headquarters is in Richmond, Indiana
Richmond, Indiana
Richmond is a city largely within Wayne Township, Wayne County, in east central Indiana, United States, which borders Ohio. The city also includes the Richmond Municipal Airport, which is in Boston Township and separated from the rest of the city...
, and has offices in Kisumu
Kisumu
Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
.
There are three other main branches within Quakerism, two of them represented by parallel organizations (Friends General Conference
Friends General Conference
Friends General Conference is a North American Quaker organization primarily serving the Quaker yearly and monthly meetings in the United States and Canada that choose to be members...
and Evangelical Friends International
Evangelical Friends International
Evangelical Friends Church International is a branch of Quaker yearly meetings around the world that profess evangelical Christian beliefs.- History :...
); the third (Conservative Friends
Conservative Friends
Conservative Friends refers to members of a certain branch of the Religious Society of Friends . In the United States of America Conservative Friends belong to three Yearly Meetings—Iowa Yearly Meeting , North Carolina Yearly Meeting , and Ohio Yearly Meeting...
) has no single unifying organization. Of these four branches, FUM has the largest number of individual members. In 2005, there were 42,680 members in 427 congregations in the United States. The Friends United Meeting is responsible for much of the growth of Quakerism in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
.
History
Five years after the signing on the Richmond DeclarationRichmond Declaration
The Richmond Declaration was made by 95 Quakers in September 1887, at a conference in Richmond, Indiana...
in 1887, Five Years Meeting was established in 1902 by a collection of orthodox yearly meetings.
After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, growing desire for a more fundamentalist approach began to split Five Years Meeting. in 1926, Northwest Yearly Meeting withdrew from the organization, leading several other yearly meetings and scattered monthly meetings. In 1947, the Association of Evangelical Friends was formed, which led in turn to the 1965 formation of the Evangelical Friends Association, a precursor to today's Evangelical Friends International
Evangelical Friends International
Evangelical Friends Church International is a branch of Quaker yearly meetings around the world that profess evangelical Christian beliefs.- History :...
, formed in 1989.
During the 1950s many yearly meetings in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
reunited and became joint members of Five Years Meeting and Friends General Conference.
In 1963 Five Years Meeting was renamed Friends United Meeting.
Purpose Statement
Our purpose is "to energize and equip Friends through the power of the Holy Spirit to gather people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved and obeyed as Teacher and Lord."See also
- Religious Society of FriendsReligious Society of FriendsThe Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
- Conservative FriendsConservative FriendsConservative Friends refers to members of a certain branch of the Religious Society of Friends . In the United States of America Conservative Friends belong to three Yearly Meetings—Iowa Yearly Meeting , North Carolina Yearly Meeting , and Ohio Yearly Meeting...
- Evangelical Friends InternationalEvangelical Friends InternationalEvangelical Friends Church International is a branch of Quaker yearly meetings around the world that profess evangelical Christian beliefs.- History :...
- Friends General ConferenceFriends General ConferenceFriends General Conference is a North American Quaker organization primarily serving the Quaker yearly and monthly meetings in the United States and Canada that choose to be members...