Some 893,000 members believe in the imminent second coming of Christ and the potential salvation of mortal souls during the millennium. All members are ministers who proselytize their faith with door.to.door missionary work. F ounded by George Fox in England in the seventeenth century, who preached a doctrine of Inner Light, and inveighed against organized churches. The Friends,. who have 113,000 U.S. members. Meetings are characterized by quiet meditation without ritual or sermon.
Quakers are active in peace, education, and social welfare movements.
They refuse to bear arms or take oaths. Earlier schisms are still reflected in three main affiliations of Friends. They profess no creed. They have strong social, ethical concerns, and emphasize the search for religious truth through freedom of belief. They accept theists, humanists, and agnostics in religious fellowship.