Everything about Evangelical Friends International totally explained
Evangelical Friends International (EFI) is an association of
Religious Society of Friends (Quaker)
Yearly meetings (regional associations) around the world that profess
evangelical Christian beliefs.
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, leading 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 International, formed in 1989.
Mission
The mission of EFI is "to help local Friends churches around the world meet the spiritual needs of their communities." Over 1,100 Evangelical Friends churches representing more than 140,000 Friends in 24 countries are currently associated with EFI. Currently, the largest Quaker church in the world is
Friends Church, an
evangelical Quaker
megachurch located in
Orange County, California.
Evangelical Friends International spreads its form of Quakerism through the Evangelical Friends Mission, which recruits and sends missionaries to various parts of the world to teach people the beliefs of Evangelical Friends and to start new Friends churches.
Uniqueness of EFI Among Friends
Friends, especially in the United States, are divided today as a result of divisions that took place mostly in the 19th Century. The Evangelical branch is the one that's most similar to other
Christian denominations and differs some from other branches of
Quakerism. Evangelical Friends may refer to a local congregation as a
church, while some other Friends call it a
Monthly meeting. They have programmed (for example, planned) services, while many other Friends have silent services in which people speak as they feel led by God. Programmed services will usually incorporate silent open worship, but it's only one element in the service.
A key doctrinal issue that sets Evangelical Friends apart from liberal Friends is their
Biblical view of salvation. Evangelical Friends believe that all people are in need of salvation, and that salvation comes to a person by putting his faith in
Jesus Christ. Other Quakers have a wide range of liberal views on salvation, up to and including beliefs such as
Universalism. Evangelical Friends may not share the views on
pacifism which most
Quakers hold to.
Uniqueness of EFI Among Other Evangelicals
Evangelical Friends International of North America is part of the
National Association of Evangelicals, a large body of Christian denominations and groups in the United States that share evangelical beliefs.
The issue that sets Evangelical Friends apart from other evangelical Christians is that they consider themselves part of the larger Friends movement. They also feel that their particular beliefs are consistent with the beliefs of the earliest Friends, such as
George Fox (other Friends assert the same about their own beliefs and practices). Evangelical Friends also generally adhere to most, if not all, of the testimonies (core beliefs and values) of Friends (see
"Testimonies" under
Religious Society of Friends).
North American yearly meetings associated with EFI
Further Information
Get more info on 'Evangelical Friends International'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://evangelical_friends_international.totallyexplained.com">Evangelical Friends International Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
