Evangelical Friends Church International (EFCI) is a branch of the Society of Friends (Quaker) yearly meetings (regional associations) located around the world. The EFCI is generally more conservative in their orientation than other Quaker meetings and has many similarities to other denominations of Evangelicalism. The original EFCI, known as the Association of Evangelical Friends, was formed in 1947. The EFCI adopted its current name in 2004 and is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals and the World Evangelical Alliance. The EFCI is not a member of the interdenominational Friends World Committee for Consultation. After the switching of around 7,000 Friends from the Friends United Meeting in California to the EFCI, Evangelical Friends became the largest branch of Friends in the United States.
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👉 Friends United Meeting in the context of Evangelical Friends Church International
Friends United Meeting in the context of Religious Society of Friends
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".
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. They include those with evangelical, holiness, liberal, orthodox, universalist, independent, and traditional Quaker understandings of Christianity, as well as Nontheist Quakers. To differing extents, the Friends avoid creeds and hierarchical structures. In 2017, there were an estimated 377,557 adult Quakers, 49% of them in Africa followed by 22% in North America.
Friends United Meeting in the context of Central Yearly Meeting of Friends
Central Yearly Meeting of Friends is a yearly meeting of Friends (Quaker) churches located in Indiana, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Ohio. Central Yearly Meeting of Friends is a part of the Gurneyite wing of the Orthodox branch of Quakerism, and is aligned with the conservative holiness movement. Meeting for worship is programmed and led by pastors.
On First-month 31, 1924 (January 31, 1924), the Union Quarterly Meeting was formed from monthly meetings that were originally a part of the Western Yearly Meeting; certain monthly meetings that were a part of the Indiana Yearly Meeting formed the Eastern Quarterly Meeting. The Union and Eastern Quarterly Meetings remained a part of the Five Years Meeting until 1926, when they separated and together became the Central Yearly Meeting on Ninth-month 17th, 1926 (September 17, 1926). The Central Yearly Meeting strongly supported the Richmond Declaration, a confession of faith upheld by the Orthodox branch of Quakerism.