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This section between the lines is intended as background to the body of the article itself for those without a lot of familiarity with the schisms of North American Friends (Quakers) in the last 200 years and how different tendencies among Friends reflected themselves in larger Friends organizations. You may skip it if you have that familiarity.
In 1827-28, most of the yearly meetings (regional associations) of Friends (Quakers) in North America split into Orthodox and Hicksite bodies. There were several causes for this schism, but today the differences are often cast in theological terms even though the splits were not neatly along theological lines. The Orthodox were more conventional in their Christology, and more comfortable in working with other Christian churches. The Hicksites were less inclined to insist that Christ be equated with the physical Jesus who walked the earth two millenia ago. They emphasized more the differences between Quakers and other Christian churches.
During the nineteenth century, Orthodox Friends continued to evolve and were significantly affected by currents in the larger Christian community. By the end of the century, many Orthodox meetings had adopted the pastoral system. They also became actively involved in foreign missions work. At different times during the century, groups known as Conservative or Wilburite Friends withdrew from Orthodox yearly meetings and formed their own bodies seeking, as they saw it, to preserve the distinctive characteristics of Friends which they felt much of the Orthodox branch was losing. At the end of the century, there was a separate withdrawal in the West taking a more liberal theological approach minimizing the items of faith all Friends were expected to hold in common. These Friends are sometimes known as Beanites, and now compose three yearly meetings.
Around the beginning of the twentieth century, increasing joint activities among yearly meetings associated with each of the major branches coalesced into formal organizations. The Hicksites formed the Friends General Conference (FGC). The Orthodox formed the Five Years Meeting of Friends, later renamed Friends United Meeting (FUM). Conservative Friends had joint activities, but never had a formal association. Beanite Friends have a joint publication and other joint activities, but also have never created a formal association.
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