quakers
in northern california
In
1861, two well-known Quakers from Iowa Yearly Meeting
(Orthodox), Joel and Hannah Bean, worshiped briefly with Friends
in San Jose on their way to a two-year sojourn in Hawaii. Following
their ministry, a Meetinghouse was built in San Jose in 1866. Iowa
Yearly Meeting recognized it in 1873, making it the first Friends
Meeting on the West Coast. Joel Bean continued his ministry in
Hawaii and a strong Quaker presence continued there after he and
Hannah returned to Iowa.
However,
while Joel Bean was Clerk of Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1877, a separation
occurred which eventually led to the formation
of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative). Although he sympathized
with
the dissidents who were defending traditional Quaker ways against
new trends, he did not join them. The discord was so troubling to
him that he and Hannah left Iowa and returned to San Jose in 1882,
becoming leaders in that Meeting. He wrote two strong defenses of
Quaker traditions, which were circulated by Friends journals in
America and England, and the discord escalated.
With
the return of Joel and Hannah Bean, Friends in San Jose began to
separate into two groups. One group followed the theology
and practices of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Orthodox) and the new
revivalist Quakerism of the Great Awakening. The other group
remained with the Beans in their unprogrammed worship. In 1885
Joel Bean’s followers, who were not members of San Jose Meeting,
built their own Meetinghouse for unprogrammed worship. Iowa
Yearly Meeting denied this group’s request for status as
College Park
Monthly Meeting and also laid down San Jose Monthly Meeting,
leaving the San Jose area with no recognized Monthly Meeting.
Nevertheless,
the new Meeting continued and membership grew. In 1893, Iowa Yearly
Meeting withdrew its recognition of Joel and
Hannah Bean as Recorded Ministers evoking
strong negative responses in Philadelphia and London. In 1889 Joel
Bean
and others founded the College Park Friends Association, which
consisted of Friends who retained their membership in their
various home Meetings. In 1918, the by-laws were amended to allow
Monthly Meetings to join the association. Berkeley, Palo Alto, and
Los Gatos joined at the outset; ten years later, there were 30
associated Meetings.Above is an early Discipline of the College Park
Association, probably from the early 1890s.
Discipline of the College Park
Association of Friends
Doctrine: Friends
believe in the continuing reality of the living Christ, available
to all seeking souls.
Worship: The
worship of God is in spirit and in truth and shall be held
on a basis of the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Ministry: All
members and all Attenders are free to participate vocally in
Meetings, under a sense of God’s Presence.
Manner of Living: Friends
are advised to conduct their private lives with simplicity
and directness, ever sensitive to the
world’s needs and eager to engage in service.
Relation to State: Friends
are urged to feel their responsibility to the nation, and at
the same time to recognise
their oneness with humanity everywhere, regardless of race
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The
above is an early Discipline of the College Park Friends Association,
from which Pacific Yearly Meeting evolved.