QuakerInfo.com Forum

[RAYARTHART]

QUESTION: IN THE EARLY DAYS OF QUAKERISM DID THEY HAVE HYMNS? OR DID THAT COME IN TO BEING AFTER THE SLIT BETWEEN THE HICKSITES AND WILBORITES?

[wsamuel]

In the early days there were no preplanned hymns in worship. It does appear there was sometimes spontaneous singing. There are also recorded instances of Quakers singing in prison.

The Wilburites were not a split off from the Hicksites. The 1827-28 split was between Hicksites and Orthodox. The Orthodox stream suffered later splits, which occurred in different places at different times (the Wilburite/Conservative splits occurred largely in the middle and latter parts of the 19th century, and the Evangelical splits largely in the 20th century). Today the Orthodox movement consists of Friends United Meeting (the largest body), Evangelical Friends International, and Conservative Friends (Wilburites are part of the Conservative stream).

The introduction of programmed elements in worship did not occur until long after the Hicksite-Orthodox split, and quite a bit after the first split between Wilburites and other Orthodox, sometimes called Gurneyites. It did occur within the Orthodox stream in the latter part of the 19th century, but was not accepted by the Wilburite/Conservative wing of the Orthodox.
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Bill Samuel, Webservant, QuakerInfo.com