The Richmond Declaration, also known as the Richmond Declaration of Faith, is a

confession of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds: ...

of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, being made by 95

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s (representatives of all Gurneyite Orthodox Friends Yearly Meetings) from around the world in September 1887, at a conference in

Richmond, Indiana Richmond () is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana, United States. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,720. It is the principal c ...

. It was a declaration of faith, and although Quakers do not subscribe to a

creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds ...

, the Richmond Declaration of Faith has been used as a doctrinal standard by Orthodox Quakers (now represented by the

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, em ...

), Holiness Quakers (represented by the

Central Yearly Meeting of Friends Central Yearly Meeting of Friends is a yearly meeting of Religious Society of Friends, Friends (Quaker) churches located in Indiana, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Ohio. Central Yearly Meeting of Friends is a part of the Gurneyite wing of the Relig ...

) and Evangelical Quakers (represented by Evangelical Friends International), ever since. The Declaration was "approved", "accepted", or "adopted" by the Orthodox Yearly Meetings of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, Western, New England, New York, Baltimore, North Carolina, Iowa, and Canada. Among Orthodox Friends in North America, only Ohio and Philadelphia yearly meetings did not so act. The

General Board reaffirmed the declaration as a statement of faith in February 2007. The Declaration appears in most Books of Discipline (Manuals of Faith and Practice) of Evangelical, Holiness and Friends United Meeting yearly meetings. In present-day Quakerdom, the vast majority are Evangelical Friends, thus making the Richmond Declaration of Faith representative of much of Quaker doctrine. The Richmond Declaration of Faith includes "assertions about God, Christ, the Bible, resurrection and atonement, and other Christian basics", as well as "core Quaker beliefs about simplicity, oaths, peace, and sacraments."

Criticism

Chuck Fager, a Liberal Quaker, claimed that the Richmond Declaration did not represent all branches of Friends and lamented that it had been used to expel ministers such as Joel Bean; in Fager's view, the confession does not represent what he sees as authentic Friends theology. Quaker author Bill Samuel rebutted Fager's claims, stating that the Richmond Declaration of Faith is consistent with early Quaker thought, inclusive of Robert Barclay's ''Apology for the True Christian Divinity''; Samuel stated that Fager read "an awful lot between the lines" to make negative claims about the Richmond Declaration of Faith.Fager, Chuck
Position Paper against the Richmond Declaration
/ref> Though it was primarily written by a British Friend, Joseph Bevan Braithwaite, the London Yearly Meeting did not adopt the Richmond Declaration in 1888, after progressive younger members characterized by "theological and social drift" opposed its adoption in an extensive debate that "lasted for over five hours".Kennedy, Thomas Cummings ''British Quakerism 1860-1920: the transformation of a religious community'' Oxford University Press, 2001. p. 117. Supported by many of the older, longstanding members in the London Yearly Meeting, Braithwaite saw the Richmond Declaration of Faith as being a bulwark against "unsound and dangerous doctrine" in times when Friends were "in a state of discipline and warfare".

References

{{reflist

External links

Text of the Richmond Declaration
Quaker practices Richmond, Indiana 1887 documents 1887 in Christianity