Stewardship is not recognised as a Testimony by all Yearly Meetings. In 1965, this was replaced by the Evangelical Friends Alliance, which in 1989, became Evangelical Friends Church International. This movement was led by British Quaker Joseph John Gurney. Sometimes a meeting is entirely silent, sometimes many speak. London Yearly Meeting of Friends abolished the acknowledging and recording of Recorded Ministers in 1924. Some meetings adopt a policy that children, some time after becoming young adults, must apply independently for membership. He was strongly supported by Friends who developed the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders. Around the time of the American Revolutionary War, some American Quakers split from the main Society of Friends over issues such as support for the war, forming groups such as the Free Quakers and the Universal Friends. The statement of faith of Evangelical Friends International is comparable to the statement of faith of other Evangelical churches. Quakers, also called Friends, are a historically Christian denomination whose formal name is the Religious Society of Friends or Friends Church.Members of the various Quaker movements are all generally united by their belief in the ability of each human being to experientially access the light within, or “that of God in every one”. Quakers focused their private lives on developing behaviour and speech reflecting emotional purity and the light of God. In the late 19th century and early 20th century a religious movement known as the Quaker Renaissance movement began within London Yearly Meeting. There are also Friends who do not support same-sex marriage, and some Evangelical and Pastoral yearly meetings in the United States have issued public statements stating that homosexuality is a sin. Liberal Friends believe that a corporate confession of faith would be an obstacle—both to authentic listening and to new insight. Unprogrammed worship (also known as waiting worship, “silent worship”, or holy communion in the manner of Friends) is based on the practices of George Fox and the Early Friends, who based their religious beliefs and practices on their interpretation of how the early Christians worshipped God their Heavenly Father. By the early 1990s the Meetinghouse and Annex, which housed meeting rooms and bathroom facilities, fell into disrepair as a result of damage inflicted by time and impact of conflict. Often, these are the members of a committee of ministry and oversight, who have helped the couple plan their marriage. New York Yearly Meeting.) Cooperatives: Chris Kell reports on the Spring Gathering of the Quakers and Business Group. In 1887, a Gurneyite Quaker of British descent, Joseph Bevan Braithwaite, proposed to Friends a statement of faith known as the Richmond Declaration. So serious was the deterioration of the meetinghouse that by the middle 1990s it was impossible to use the building at all. In 1961 he wrote an article in the Observer newspaper calling for an amnesty for all political prisoners. Some express their concept of God using phrases such as “the inner light”, “inward light of Christ”, or “Holy Spirit”. Some Friends immigrated to what is now the Northeastern region of the United States in the 1660s in search of economic opportunities and a more tolerant environment in which to build communities of “holy conversation”. In subsequent years, conflict arose among Gurneyite Friends in relation to the Richmond Declaration of faith. Some yearly meetings, like Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, belong to larger organisations to help maintain order and communication within the Society. These practices are often referred to as the testimony against times and seasons. The Religious Society of Friends began as a movement in England in the mid-17th century in Lancashire.Members are informally known as Quakers, as they were said "to tremble in the way of the Lord".The movement in its early days faced strong opposition and persecution, but it continued to expand across the British Isles and then in the Americas and Africa. See also: Conservative Friends, Friends General Conference, Britain Yearly Meeting, and Beanite Quakerism. Some meetings of both types have Recorded Ministers in their meetings—Friends recognised for their gift of vocal ministry. They believe in, and hold a high regard for, the penal substitution of the atonement of Christ on the Cross at Calvary, biblical infallibility, and the need for every person to personally experience a relationship with God. In 1926, Oregon Yearly Meeting seceded from Five Years Meeting, bringing together several other yearly meetings and scattered monthly meetings.