FRIENDS HISTORY, BELIEF AND PRACTICE

CHAPTER II - FRIENDS IN EVANGELICAL FRIENDS CHURCH
MID AMERICA YEARLY MEETING

Establishment of Kansas Yearly Meeting. Friends first came to Kansas as missionaries to the Shawnee Indians who had been moved to northeast Kansas (part of Missouri Territory) from Ohio. The Friends Shawnee Indian Mission near Kansas City was opened in 1836, with a boarding school and meeting house. When Kansas Territory was opened for settlement in 1854, large numbers of Friends came. The first quarterly meeting in Kansas, known as Kansas Quarterly Meeting, was established in 1862 in northeast Kansas by Indiana Yearly Meeting. At Lawrence, Kansas Yearly Meeting officially came into being in 1872, made up at first of meetings in eastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri. Soon Friends formed other meetings in Kansas and Missouri, and some migrated far to the south and west where they established meetings in what are now the states of Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado. Since 1925 the annual sessions have been held in Wichita. The name "Kansas" was dropped in 1978 in favor of "Mid America". The name was changed to "Evangelical Friends Church - Mid America Yearly Meeting" in 2000.

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Friends and Missions. Besides their work among Indians in Kansas and Oklahoma, Kansas missionaries labored on Douglas Island, Alaska, from 1887_1911. Other Kansas Quakers went as missionaries to Japan, China, Cuba, India, Kenya, Mexico, Palestine, Jamaica, Central America and South America.

In the fall of 1933 Kansas Yearly Meeting (now Evangelical Friends Church – Mid America Yearly Meeting) commissioned Arthur and Edna Chilson, and their daughter Rachel, to open a new mission field in central Africa. In 1934 the Friends mission in Urundi (now Burundi), known as the Friends Africa Gospel Mission (FAGM), was started. FAGM was both evangelistic and service oriented, seeking to fulfill major goals of evangelizing, discipleship, and church planting, to serve the whole person through medicine, education, technical aid, agriculture, and community development. It cooperated closely with other Protestant missions in the Gitega Literature Center, Grace Memorial Press, Kibimba Normal School, and Mweya Bible Institute and Seminary and the school for missionary children. In 1959, the 25th anniversary year, Burundi Quarterly Meeting was established. Interim Yearly Meeting status was granted in 1979. In 1984, the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the mission, the Burundi Friends Church became a full Yearly Meeting.

Friends in Burundi have faced extreme crises from time to time due to local political upheaval. Many of the finest and most highly trained leaders went to their death under persecution (1965 and 1972), giving brave testimony to their faith in Jesus Christ. After fourteen years of effective witness the voice of Radio CORDAC was stilled in 1977 when the Burundi government decided no longer to permit private radio stations. The last of the Friends missionaries were forced to leave in 1985 when the government denied them visas. In spite of the hardships and limitations put upon the churches there, they continued to grow. By 1987 there were 41 congregations with a membership of over 4,500, and they were also active in church extension beyond Burundi into Zaire.

Throughout the 1990’s there has been an ongoing atmosphere of political instability and tribal warfare. This resulted in churches being closed for a period of time and some being taken over by the government to serve as refuge camps. The persecution and killing resulted in some leaders having to flee the country for a time, and others were in hiding. As a result, the major thrust in the support of Burundi has been in the areas of reconstruction and leadership development. In spite of the persecution or perhaps because of it, the church continued to grow.

In January of 1998 there were approximately 14,000 church members in over 70 congregations, guided by the courageous and faithful leadership of the Legal Representative, David Niyonzima. Dynamic growth continues through Sister Church projects and the strategy of planting "Hill Churches" in neighboring villages throughout the country. At the same time, with a new Peace School in 1999, and Christ’s heart for reconciliation, Friends are sending out a call to peace with the love of Christ in a land of adversity. In August of 1999, Mid-America Yearly Meeting sent David and Mae Kellum back to Burundi for a two-year term to encourage the churches. The Great Lakes School of Theology was launched in Bujumbura in January of 2000 in order to train pastors and leaders to serve in Friends Churches. Sixteen students from the countries of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, formed the first class.

In 1986 Mid-America Yearly Meeting committed herself to help Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting in the support of the Navajo mission work at Rough Rock in Arizona, which was begun by Nebraska Yearly Meeting in 1952, and is now administered by Evangelical Friends Mission. As a member of the Evangelical Friends Mission, EFC - MAYM joins other Yearly Meetings in supporting the work in Mexico (1967-), the Philippines (1978-), Bolivian Evangelical University in Santa Cruz, Bolivia (1982-), Rwanda (1986-), North India (Friends of Garhwal) (1992-), International Friends Ministry (1993-), Nepal (1994-), and Ireland (1998-).

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Friends and Education. Before the development of public schools it was customary among Friends to establish monthly meeting elementary schools to provide for their children's education. As early as 1856 there is record of a Friends elementary school in Leavenworth County, Kansas. By 1866 the monthly meeting schools were being attended by 152 Friends children. In 1872 the newly formed Yearly Meeting took as a major concern the provision of high school education for its youth. There was never one central high school for the Yearly Meeting, but during the years of 1877 to 1914, and scattered in four states, a total of 12 academies had been started by the quarterly meetings. The last of the academies to close was Haviland in 1968. (See Appendix.)

In connection with the Haviland Academy, a Bible Training School was begun in 1917 for the purpose of teaching English Bible and training Christian workers. In subsequent years the school grew to include a 2-year junior college program and in 1948-1950 a 4-year curriculum. Since the closing of the Academy in 1968, the college (renamed Barclay College in the Spring of 1990) has developed a four year degree program with emphasis on pastoral and youth ministry along with majors in Bible/theology, missions, business, education, and psychology. Since 1996 the college has offered Home College Courses making available college level classes in Bible and ministry that can be completed at home. The college also operates a degree completion program—ADVANTAGE!—with majors in business, psychology, Christian ministry, and Bible/theology at a number of sites in Kansas, and several other states.

The doors of Friends University were opened in Wichita in September, 1898, with 53 students, a president, faculty and magnificent building -- the gift of James M. and Anna T. Davis who had purchased the property of the defunct Garfield University. His requirements of Yearly Meeting interest and financial support were met, and in 1903 Friends University officially became the responsibility of Kansas Yearly Meeting. As the college grew, the percentage of Quaker students and alumni declined as did the percentage of financial support from Yearly Meeting churches. Although the Yearly Meeting continues to have close affiliation with the college, changes in the structure of the University Board mean the Yearly Meeting no longer has control. As a liberal arts college, Friends University has trained thousands of men and women who have distinguished themselves in business, education, industry, and science and at the same time made valuable contributions to their churches and communities.

From 1964-1978 Friends Special School in San Antonio, Texas, helped to educate needy and emotionally disturbed children, prepare them for employment, and bring them under Christian influence and teaching. It had to close after state-level policies affected the funding program on which it was dependent.

The Houston Graduate School of Theology began holding classes in 1983, having developed its initial relationship with the Texas Area Friends Churches. It is a Friends seminary, which focuses its education opportunities on the wider Christian community. In 1988 the seminary was accorded a formal relationship as an educational ministry within Evangelical Friends Church - Mid America Yearly Meeting.  In 2004 the seminary officially ended its designation as a Friends Seminary becoming a multi-denominational institution.

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Youth of Evangelical Friends Church - Mid America Yearly Meeting. Young people are a vital part of Evangelical Friends Church - Mid America Yearly Meeting. In 1887 a Christian Fellowship Union was organized to provide opportunities for greater communication and fellowship among youth. The name Christian Endeavor was adopted in 1892 to coincide with the national organization of young people. An increased identity with other young people among Evangelical Friends prompted the new name of Friends Youth in 1964. A variety of conferences and retreats have contributed greatly to the spiritual growth and development of young Friends of Evangelical Friends Church - Mid America Yearly Meeting. In response to a concern for our own camp grounds, in 1950 Kansas Yearly Meeting opened Camp Quaker Haven near Arkansas City, Kansas. Quaker Haven provides excellent opportunities for camping with cabins, dining hall, chapel, the David E. Cox Memorial swimming pool, miniature golf, and other recreational facilities. It has the capacity to accommodate 300 people and is in constant use by Evangelical Friends Church - Mid America Yearly Meeting and other groups.

In 1979 the position of Superintendent of Youth was established for the purpose of coordination and administration of the youth programs of the Yearly Meeting. The Superintendent of Youth works closely with the youth leaders in EFC-MAYM churches to sense the needs of the youth and provide direction for the youth program. Through such activities as camping, summer ministries, Youth Yearly Meeting, Mid-Winter Retreat and sponsor teacher training, also resource materials and program development, the Superintendent of Youth helps to provide for the needs of youth and the development of the youth program in the local church.

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