Quakers - Ecumenical Relations

Ecumenical Relations

Quakers prior to the 20th century considered the Religious Society of Friends to be a Christian movement, but did not feel their faith fit within categories of Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant. Many conservative Friends, whilst fully seeing themselves as Christian, choose to remain separate from other Christian groups.

Many Friends in liberal Friends' meetings are actively involved in the ecumenical movement, often working closely with other Mainline Protestant and liberal Christian churches with whom they share common ground. Concern for peace and social justice often brings Friends together with other churches and Christian groups. Some liberal yearly meetings are members of ecumenical pan-Christian organizations which include Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches—for example Philadelphia Yearly Meeting is a member of the National Council of Churches, Britain Yearly Meeting is a member of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and Friends General Conference is a member of the World Council of Churches. Guerneyite Friends would typically see themselves as part of a Christian movement and work closely with other Christian groups. Friends United Meeting (the international organization of Gurneyite yearly meetings) is a member of the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, which are pan-Christian organizations which include Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches. Evangelical Friends work closely with other evangelical churches from other Christian traditions. The North American branch of Evangelical Friends Church International is a member church of the National Association of Evangelicals. Evangelical Friends tend to be less involved with non-evangelical churches and are not members of the World Council of Churches or National Council of Churches.

The majority of other Christian groups recognize Friends amongst their fellow-Christians. The Bible Theology Ministries (a small charismatic church in Swansea) is an exception, but they also do not recognize Roman Catholics as Christian, regarding both as cults. Some people who attend Friends meetings assume that Quakers are not Christian when they do not hear overtly Christian language during the meeting for worship.