Friends History
The Friends Church
The Friends Church was founded in northern England in the 1600s. The name Friends is derived from Jesus Christ’s words in John 15:14: “You are my friends if you do what I command.” Since their founding, Friends have sought to follow Jesus’ words and integrate their life and faith, focusing on five distinct virtues that emerge from a vibrant relationship with Him.
- Integrity – Friends pursue consistency between what we believe and how we live. Reliability, truthfulness and excellence are expected norms.
- Equality – Friends strive to honor all persons without regard to gender, ethnicity, nationality, or social class because all persons stand equally before our Creator and Lord.
- Simplicity – Christian discipleship, not the current values of culture, determine how we earn, consume, treat the earth, and use our time.
- Justice and peace – Friends think carefully and try to speak truthfully regarding ways that they can foster a more just and less violent world. Friends are active peacemakers.
Out of this rich heritage, Greenleaf Friends Academy was founded in 1908 by Friends desiring to build a school where students can receive a classical Christian education even in the remote area of Greenleaf, Idaho. Greenleaf historian, Dilla Tucker Winslow, in her book From Sagebrush to Green Fields, describes the focus of the Academy as defined in an early catalog.
“No education is complete without a personal knowledge of and acquaintance with God. The highest intellectual attainment is of little value unless that attainment is controlled by Him, who is the source of all knowledge.”
For over a century, the Academy has sought to fulfill its founding mission and provide a great classical Christian education
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