Quaker History
Friends, also called Quakers, had their origin in seventeenth-century England. As a young man, George Fox longed for a genuine faith which he did not find in the cold, legalistic church of his time. He looked in vain for human help and studied the Bible so thoroughly that he learned much of it by memory. After four years of searching, he found inner peace through trusting Jesus Christ as his Savior. Soon he began to tell others about the Gospel of Christ as God’s way to free people from sin. As Fox shared the reality he had found, others responded and joined him in spreading the good news of salvation. Thus, a movement of Christian renewal was born in 1647, which became known in time as the Society of Friends, or Friends. A rapid period of growth began in June 1652 in northern England. By 1661, the Society of Friends spread to New England, America. As time went on, the Friends movement spread through the colonies and eventually throughout the United States.
Centre History
The history of Centre Friends Meeting began two decades before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, when in 1750 William Hoggatt, a Quaker from Pennsylvania, arrived and formed a settlement known as Centre. Other settlers soon arrived from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Nantucket, meeting first in homes. Four meetinghouses have been built in addition to a parsonage, fellowship hall, and additional classrooms.
Centre’s first Sunday School was started in 1856. In the following year a school was organized under the care of Monthly Meeting. In 1913 Herbert Reynolds started the first young people’s group, Christian Endeavor, which is known today as Friends Youth Fellowship. A Memorial Association was organized in 1923 for the upkeep of the cemetery. Meeting for worship is a partially programmed meeting with time for open worship. Centre has offered much hope to those who enter her doors and will continue to stand as a beacon on the hill for all to worship and praise God.