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The Fellowship of Friends is a non-denominational religious organization. It was founded in 1970 by Robert Earl Burton as a Fourth Way group based on the teachings of George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky but presently incorporates additional esoteric knowledge not directly connected with the Fourth Way system. The organization had as of April 2019 approximately 1,600 members, about a third of whom live near the organization's 1200-acre (48 ha) compound named "Apollo" in Oregon House, California, United States. Members also reside in North and South America, Europe and Asia. The Fellowship of Friends is registered as a 501(c)(3) California non-profit church organization and is a member of the International Council of Community Churches (ICCC).
Doctrines of the Fellowship of Friends
A recently published book "Fifty Years with Angels" (first edition, December 2017), summarizes the history of the organization and expounds the current thinking as of that date. Robert Burton considers one of his roles is as a conduit for teaching communicated to him by beings he calls angels, who are the immortal spirits of men who have achieved awakening and specifically assist the Fellowship of Friends in its mission. This mission is twofold: to create the seed of a new civilization after the catastrophic doom that Burton has predicted since the early days of the organization, though the dates have been changed as each prediction has not been fulfilled, and to create consciousness in the members of the organization.
Renaissance Vineyard and Winery
From 1982 to 2015 the organization operated Renaissance Vineyard and Winery at the Apollo settlement. The vineyard was planted with advice from viticultural consultant Karl Werner, who married a Fellowship of Friends member and became a member himself. The Fellowship obtained designation of the North Yuba American Viticultural Area in 1985.
Criticism
A number of former members have sued Robert Earl Burton, the founder of the organization, for alleged sexual abuse. He has also been criticized for having a lavish lifestyle and for false prophecies. In 2006 an attendee at a Fellowship of Friends prospective student meeting wrote a report of his experience and posted it on a Wordpress site. This became a focus for many former members to air their views, and led to a lively discussion of the practices of the organisation and its founder. It has passed through a number of editors and platforms, and continues to exist as of April 2021.
References
- http://livingpresence.com/the-tradition-of-schools/
- http://livingpresence.com/apollo/
- http://livingpresence.com/apollo/
- ^ Jenifer Warren (November 4, 1996). "Trouble Taints a Cerebral Sanctuary". Los Angeles Times.
- http://livingpresence.com/fellowship-of-friends/
- "Lost Treasures in the Sierra Foothills: The Wines of Renaissance Vineyards". Vinography. July 23, 2015.
- Esther Mobley (August 23, 2018). "How a California cult created one of the country's great wineries — and then lost it". San Francisco Chronicle.
- Esther Mobley (August 23, 2018). "The original 'cult' wine: How I discovered California's strangest vineyard". San Francisco Chronicle.
- https://animamrecro.wordpress.com/2006/04/16/fellowship-of-friends-a-cult-for-intellectuals/
- https://fofdiscussion.wordpress.com/
Further reading
- Self-Remembering (1995) by Robert E. Burton, Weiser Books, ISBN 0-877-28844-5
- Awakening (2017) by Robert E. Burton, Fellowship of Friends, ISBN 978-0692752913
- Taking with the Left Hand: Enneagram Craze, People of the Bookmark, and the Mouravieff Phenomenon (1998) by William Patrick Patterson, edited by Barbara Allen Patterson. Arete Communications, ISBN 1-879514-10-9
- Deadly Cults: The Crimes of True Believers (2003) by Robert L. Snow, Praeger Publishers, ISBN 978-0275980528
- Gurdjieffian Groups in Britain by James Moore, "Religion Today" (1986), Volume 3(2), pp. 1-4
- The Fourth Way and Inner Transformation by Theodore Nottingham (1991), "Gnosis", No. 20, p. 22