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Friends United
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November/December 2009
Orthodox
or United?
Changing Views of Friends United Meeting
By Greg Hinshaw
The history of Friends in America has, to a large degree, been a history of division and disagreement. Such trends are probably in keeping with the way Americans in general practice their faith, with an insistence on independence that has resulted in a multiplicity of denominations. Close observers of Friends United Meeting (FUM), both on the inside and the outside, are well aware of the internal tensions in the official organization, marked most recently by the "Superintendents' Letter" (see p. 15), issued by the general superintendents of Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Western and Wilmington yearly meetings, the five "Orthodox" yearly meetings that are not "united," having never merged with yearly meetings of different historical roots.
Put simply, the place in which FUM finds itself is a result of much history and, generally speaking, two different and probably mutually exclusive views of FUM. For most in the Orthodox yearly meetings, FUM is or should be a denominational body, a group with a shared faith that is clear in its Christian testimony and an organization devoted to denominational activities, such as evangelism and church extension, missions work, publication and other types of mutual support. For many in the united yearly meetings, FUM is viewed as simply another Quaker group for fellowship and discussion, akin to Friends General Conference and Friends World Committee for Consultation. Strict standards of faith are viewed as unnecessary and maybe even unhelpful.
How did FUM as an organization reach the point where its constituents have such different views of who they are? The most basic answer is that the yearly meetings that are now united have changed significantly from their Orthodox roots. FUM's origins lie among Orthodox Friends, and specifically they lie in the Richmond Conference of 1887, which issued the Richmond Declaration of Faith, a clearly Christian statement of Quaker views. Interestingly, all of the Orthodox yearly meetings in North America "adopted," "accepted" or "approved" the declaration, with the exception of Philadelphia, which was then in self-imposed isolation, and Ohio, which thought the declaration to be too narrow on the issue of the sacraments. In New England and New York, it was "accepted," while in Baltimore and Canada, it was "adopted."
Many Friends in the united yearly meetings might be surprised to learn that their orthodox predecessor yearly meetings, too, were largely, if not entirely, pastoral after Orthodox Friends adopted the pastoral system in the late 19th century. All of the meetings in New England Yearly Meeting were pastoral, while all but two in New York had pastors. Even in Canada pastors served in Toronto, Newmarket and Pelham, and in Baltimore "workers" served in Fishertown, Sedley, Bethel, Corinth and Somerton. The Irving Street Meeting in Washington, D.C., was a pastoral congregation. Much of the membership of the four Orthodox yearly meetings in the Northeast was rural, located in old Quaker communities. This was quite similar to the membership patterns in the Midwest.
In the middle years of the 20th century, the four yearly meetings in the Northeast all took steps that would forever alter their character: they united with counterparts from "other branches" of Friends. Unification came in New England in 1945, in Canada and New York in 1955, and in Baltimore in 1968. In each of the yearly meetings, there was opposition, so fierce in some cases that meetings withdrew, including an entire quarterly meeting, Pelham, in Canada; the old meetings of Portsmouth and Newport in New England; and nearly all of the meetings in Virginia Quarterly Meeting in Baltimore. Other liberalizing influences came when independent meetings joined, especially in New England and New York.
There has been a continual decline in the old Orthodox places of the united yearly meetings. A number of the most vital Orthodox congregations have withdrawn or transformed into community churches, including places like South China, Maine; Clintondale, Clinton Corners, Tillson and Yorktown Heights, New York; to name a few. A review of the present constituent meetings in the united yearly meetings shows that a minority in each yearly meeting have an Orthodox-only background. In New England only 20 of the local meetings have solely Orthodox roots. Those meetings comprise about 30 percent of the yearly meeting’s membership. In New York only nine of the local meetings have Orthodox-only roots. Those meetings comprise about 13 percent of the yearly meeting’s membership. In Canadian Yearly Meeting only five of the meetings have Orthodox-only roots. Those meetings comprise less than 40 percent of the membership. In Baltimore Yearly Meeting only three meetings were solely Orthodox before unification. Those meetings comprise less than 10 percent of the membership of the yearly meeting. In almost every case the Orthodox meetings that continue to exist have abandoned the pastoral system, which no longer exists at all in Canadian or Baltimore and has declined significantly in New York and New England.
None of this is to say that the other, Orthodox, yearly meetings in FUM have not changed. Certainly, they have; however, their core constituencies remain the same. Their largest meetings of 100 years ago remain among their largest meetings today. Their constituencies remain disproportionately rural, as they were a century ago, as well. They also remain overwhelmingly pastoral and largely evangelical in their worldviews. In short, they are much closer to their historical predecessors than Friends in the united yearly meetings are to their Orthodox historical predecessors. The Orthodox yearly meetings have seen significant declines in their membership, while the united yearly meetings have produced figures that are far more stable. Coupled with the exodus of the most evangelical yearly meetings, Oregon (now Northwest), Kansas (now Mid-America) and Southwest (formerly California), the relative proportions of Friends United Meeting’s membership have changed dramatically.
If and how to resolve the dichotomous views of what FUM should be are the largest and most important questions that the organization must resolve if it has any hope of regaining its health. An understanding of the history can only improve the chances of reaching that resolution.
Greg Hinshaw is the presiding clerk of Indiana Yearly Meeting and a lifelong member of Bear Creek Friends Church, near Winchester, Indiana. He comes from a long line of Indiana Quakers and has served in a number of capacities in Indiana Yearly Meeting. Professionally, he is the superintendent of schools for the Randolph Central School Corporation in Winchester, Indiana. He resides on a family farm in rural Randolph County.