There are about 196,800 members of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

, or Quakers, in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. African Friends make up around 52% of Friends internationally, the largest proportion on any one continent.

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

has the largest number of Quakers in a single nation – about 146,300 in the year 2012 (according to the Friends World Committee for Consultation).

South Africa & Central and Southern Africa Yearly Meeting

Central and Southern African Yearly Meeting was founded by Friends from

London Yearly Meeting The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, also known as the Britain Yearly Meeting (and, until 1995, the London Yearly Meeting), is a Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England, Sc ...

. A meeting was first established in Cape Town in 1728. Friends worshipping in South Africa separated from London Yearly Meeting to become an independent

Yearly Meeting Yearly Meeting is a term used by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, to refer to an organization composed of constituent meetings or churches within a geographical area. The constituent meetings are called Monthly Meetings in ...

in 1948. Due to the historic links with London Yearly Meeting, worship is in the unprogrammed tradition, in contrast with Friends' meetings in East Africa.

Kenya

History

On April 23, 1902 three Friends — Arthur Chilson, Edgar Hole, and Willis Hotchkiss — set sail from New York to

Mombasa, Kenya Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

. They went on behalf of the

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Friends Meeting. From there they made their way across by rail to

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victoria Basin. Apart from being an important polit ...

and then by foot to

Kaimosi Kaimosi is a town in western Kenya, heavily influenced by Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements (" ...

and set up a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

there on August 17. They came from the programmed tradition of Five Years Meeting (now

Friends United Meeting Friends United Meeting (FUM) is an association of twenty-six yearly meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in North America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Its home pages states that it is "a collection of Christ-centered Quakers, embra ...

). From that small beginning, Quakerism grew and spread throughout Kenya during the twentieth century, although it is still concentrated in the western area. A mission hospital (Kaimosi Hospital) was founded in 1941. The Friends Bible Institute opened in 1942. Friends gradually spread into other areas of Kenya, with another hospital (in

Lugulu Lugulu is a settlement in Busia County, Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates ...

), an epilepsy colony, an agricultural college and a college of technology all being established, as well as many new churches. It also spread to the neighboring countries of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. Due to the size, the original East Africa Yearly Meeting split into several smaller Yearly Meetings, some of these splits have been painful.

Organization

There is now one umbrella organisation - Friends Church in Kenya (FCK) - which brings together all fourteen Yearly Meetings in Kenya.

Yearly meeting Yearly Meeting is a term used by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, to refer to an organization composed of constituent meetings or churches within a geographical area. The constituent meetings are called Monthly Meetings in ...

s in Kenya are part of the

. They include: *Bware Yearly Meeting, based in Suna in southern Nyanza Province *Central Yearly Meeting, based in Lirhanda, just east of Kakamega *Chavakali Yearly Meeting, based in Chavakali, just behind the Boys Secondary School *Chwele Yearly Meeting, based in Chwele, on the southern slopes of Mt Elgon *Chevaywa Yearly Meeting, based in Malava, Matete area *East Africa Yearly Meeting (Kaimosi), based in

Tiriki Tiriki is one of sixteen clans and dialects of the Abaluyia people of Western Kenya. The word ''Tiriki'' is also used to refer to their Geographical Location in Hamisi Division, Vihiga County, in the Western province of Kenya. Hamisi Constitue ...

on the Kaimosi mission compound *East Africa Yearly Meeting (North), based in Kitale town *Elgon East Yearly Meeting, based in Kitale town *Elgon Religious Society of Friends, based in

Lugulu Lugulu is a settlement in Busia County, Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates ...

, just north of

Webuye Webuye, previously named Broderick Falls, is an industrial town in Bungoma County, Kenya. Located on the main road to Uganda, the town is home to the Pan African Paper Mills, the largest paper factory in the region, as well as a number of heav ...

on the Kitale road *Kakamega Yearly Meeting, based in Kakamega at the Amalemba Friends Center *Lugari Yearly Meeting, based in

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

*Malava Yearly Meeting, based in Malava, just west of the market center *Musingu Yearly Meeting based in Kakamega *Nairobi Yearly Meeting, based at the Friends International Center, Ngong Rd,

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

*Tuloi Yearly Meeting, based in Kapsabet *Vihiga Yearly Meeting, based in Vihiga, just west of Majengo *Vokoli Yearly Meeting, based in Wodanga, behind the Moi Girls High School *Soy Yearly Meeting, based in Soy

Uganda

The Friends Church spread to Uganda from Kenyan Friends, under the auspices of East Africa Yearly Meeting. By 1945, there were Friends Churches in Sibuse, Nabiswa, Kigumba, Nang’oma and Kampala. However, the Friends Church was banned by

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

in 1973, until the end of his leadership of Uganda in 1979. After this, an independent Uganda Yearly Meeting was formed, separate from East Africa Yearly Meeting. There is also a second Yearly Meeting in Uganda, Evangelical Friends Church - Uganda. They have applied for affiliation with

Evangelical Friends International Evangelical Friends Church International (EFCI) is a branch of Quaker yearly meetings (regional associations) around the world that profess evangelical Christian beliefs. Mission statement The mission of the Evangelical Friends Church, Internation ...

Tanzania

The first Quakers moved to Tanzania from Kenya to look for land, which they found on the border of the Serengeti Game Reserve. Subsequent missionary activity from East Africa Yearly Meeting increased membership, with service projects aimed at agricultural training - popularly known as the “Lord’s acre plan”. Due to political pressures, many Kenyans left Tanzania in 1978, with Tanzania Yearly Meeting of Friends being founded as a separate organisation in 1980. Kyela Monthly Meeting of Friends (Southern Tanzania) was founded as a worship group when a local man (Barnabas Mwaihojo) read about Quakers on the internet, which led to him setting up meetings in three local villages. These have now grown in number, with nine meetings in the southern region of Tanzania. Quakers now have the following meetings in the south: Kyela Friends Church, Muaya, Mbeya, Tunduma, Sumbawanga, Iringa and many others coming up. Daresalaam Friends church has grown well and strong in the city of Daresalaam. Mwanza town has three Friends Meetings. Roria Friends churches along the lake region have also been growing strongly. The Yearly Meeting headquarters is based in Mugumu Serengeti region of Tanzania.

Burundi

One of the original missionaries from the USA who first planted the Friends Church in Kenya, Arthur Chilson, and his wife Edna, left Kenya to found the Evangelical Friends Church in Burundi in 1934, which was to be run on more evangelical theology, in line with

. All foreign missionaries to Burundi were expelled in 1980, and ''Eglise Evangelique des Amis du Burundi'' (Evangelical Friends Church Burundi) now exists as an independent Yearly Meeting run by Burundians, affiliated to

Rwanda

''Eglise Evangelique des Amis au Rwanda'' was founded by three missionaries, George Morris, Willard Ferguson and Doris Ferguson, who had been serving in Burundi. Unusually for the Society of Friends, the Friends Church in Rwanda practices water

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

Democratic Republic of Congo

There are two groups of Friends worshipping in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. The ''Communaute des Eglise Evangelique au Congo'' (Community of Evangelical Church of Congo) are evangelical, programmed Friends affiliated to

, formed from missionaries from Burundi in 1981. They still remain a part of Evangelical Friends Church Burundi rather than being a separate Yearly Meeting. A completely separate, and much smaller, unprogrammed meeting exists in Kinshasa, with a membership of about 50.

Ghana

Since 1925, there has been one unprogrammed Friends' meeting, Hill House Meeting, in the tradition of

, attached to Achimota School and college.

Nigeria

There is a small unprogrammed meeting in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

, founded in 1995.

Congo

There is a small unprogrammed worship group in Brazzaville.

References

External links

Statistics by Country
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20041228064918/http://quaker.org/qpr/zarembka-paper.htm Paper by David Zarembkabr>Profile of the Luhya People
{{Quakers

Christian denominations in Kenya Christian denominations in Africa Christian denominations in Uganda Christian denominations in Burundi Christianity in Tanzania Christian denominations in Rwanda Christian denominations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Christian denominations in Nigeria Christian denominations in Ghana Christianity in the Republic of the Congo