Who are the Quakers?
‘Quakers’ started as a nickname - our real name is the Religious
Society of Friends. Nowadays we are quite happy to be called either Friends
or Quakers. The Society of Friends started in England in the 1650s, when George
Fox gathered groups of ‘seekers’ (dissidents) together. They felt
that the traditional churches, over past centuries, had led people away from
the real aims of Christianity with traditions, ritual and power politics seeming
to have become more important.
Quakers from that time have sought to live a
simpler and more truthful life as shown by Jesus’ example, although many
Quakers nowadays look both to Christianity and other faiths for inspiration.
Quakers meet without priests, services or creeds and no longer dress in the
distinctive clothes they once did.
