Not long after Cincinnati Friends Meeting was established in 1815, an itinerant Long Island preacher named Elias Hicks became a nexus of controversy among Quakers on the East Coast. In the tradition of George Fox, Hicks strongly advocated for relying on the Inner Light for guidance, to the extent that
Quaker History
CFM Roots: Responding to Queries
For much of the nineteenth century, one item of business that was regularly addressed during our monthly meetings was responding to a number of queries contained in the Discipline (the guide to Quaker living that we now call Faith and Practice). In addition to reporting on the state of the
CFM Roots: Discipline and Disownment
George Fox, the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, noted that, in addition to worship, one of the functions of the meeting was to “admonish and exhort such as walked disorderly or carelessly, and not according to Truth.” Quakers approached this task according to the guidelines laid out in
CFM Roots: Marriage Among Friends
Since its beginnings in the 17th century, the Religious Society of Friends had dispensed with an official priesthood. This raised an important question within the community: how were marriages to be conducted? Our Society’s founder, George Fox, prescribed an orderly process: I was moved to exhort them to bring all
CFM Roots: Matters of Membership
Historically, membership in a Quaker meeting was traditionally established in one of three ways: birth, transfer, or request. According to the 1819 edition of the Discipline of the Society of Friends of Ohio Yearly Meeting, any child “whose parents have accomplished their marriage according to our Discipline” would automatically be considered