Who are the Quakers?
Quaker Ridge Camp and Conference Center is owned and governed by the Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting of the Friends Church, a group of Evangelical Friends (Quaker) Churches in the Rocky Mountain region.
George Fox
The Quakers were founded during the mid-seventeenth century as "The Religious Society of Friends," an outgrowth of the ministry led by George Fox. The designation "Friends" comes from a passage in the Bible, where Jesus tells his followers: "Greater love has no one than this; that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves…but I have called you friends…" (John 15:13-15 NIV). In England some 1600 years later, George Fox was encouraged by these words of Jesus. God's son (Jesus) had come to earth and given up his life for his friends, and Fox realized that he, too, could be a friend of the God of the universe by obeying God's commands. From this, "The Religious Society of Friends" was born. Because of their religious enthusiasm they were nicknamed Quakers, a name which was given in derision, but which came to be a symbol of integrity.
The Friends are a Christian denomination with a reputation for earnestly seeking guidance from God and actively serving their fellow human beings. From their beginnings, Quakers have been distinctive for seeking a personal relationship with Jesus Christ -- in which all individuals, regardless of position in life, can hear the Spirit of God speaking to them.
Throughout the last 350 years, Quakers have advanced numerous social reforms, including care for the mentally ill, the imprisoned, and the impoverished. They place a strong emphasis upon the equality of all persons, believing all to be of identical value to God. For many years Friends wore only gray clothing, reducing distinguishing characteristics between rich and poor. In America, William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, established a treaty with Native Americans that was later dubbed "the only treaty that the world has ever known that was never sworn to and never broken." More than 60 years before the Civil War, not a single American Quaker was known to own a slave, and Quakers helped direct the now famous Underground Railroad to assist African Americans escaping slavery.
Quakers are also well-known for peacemaking. The Friends Church has consistently taken Jesus' command to "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" as a call to oppose violence in any form. As a result, the Friends Church has supported non-violent means of conflict resolution and has taken public stands against such things as abortion, war, and the death penalty.
Additional writings by and about the Quakers may be obtained from Barclay Press.