years to discern God's will with respect to changing sexual mores, attitudes towards marriage, and family patterns. In particular, many have challenged Friends to affirm committed gay and lesbian relationships and the possibility of same-sex marriages. Up to this point, the yearly meeting has not united on this issue, and Friends have dedicated ourselves to continue the search for unity in faith and hope that God will eventually answer our prayers if we are faithful to an honest and open search for divine guidance. As a result of these various developments, the Religious Society of Friends, particularly in the United States, includes individuals, monthly meetings, and yearly meetings that differ significantly in theological beliefs and in method of worship. But we remain united in the belief George Fox expressed, that there is that of God in everyone, and that our intimate communion with the Living Christ or Inward Light can change and revitalize our individual and corporate lives.

QUAKER GROUPS

Three organizations have formed to join in loose confederation those yearly meetings that stand in general agreement with one another: Friends General Conference, Friends United Meeting, and Evangelical Friends International.

The Friends General Conference was organized in 1900 as an association of Hicksite meetings to provide a channel of coordination for them. Today it includes any Quaker meeting interested in the services it provides, such as religious education materials and annual conferences.

Friends United Meeting (formerly the Five Years Meeting) comprises many Orthodox and United meetings worldwide. It had its origins in conferences held in Richmond, Indiana, in 1887 and 1892, at which approval was given for a declaration of faith. Friends made plans at the same time to develop Friends' missionary activities that have, amongst other things, supported the founding and gathering of Friends' meetings in East Africa, India, China, Japan, Central America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Eleven yearly meetings adopted the Five Years

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