Joel Bean (December 16, 1825 – 1914) was a Quaker minister who, along with his wife Hannah Bean, started the independent tradition of Beanite Quakerism.
Early life
Bean was born in Alton, New Hampshire. His parents were John and Elizabeth Hill Bean. He attended the Friends Boarding School in Providence, Rhode Island. He moved to Iowa in 1853, and his parents joined him in 1855, and the rest of his immediate family soon after. He taught school in West Branch from 1855 to 1861. In 1858, he was recorded as a minister by the Red Cedar Monthly Meeting.</blockquote>But, they saw that as the movement progressed it was departing from such Quaker ideas as the universality of the Inward light, the need for spiritual discipline and gradual growth rather than instant perfection, silent meetings for worship to wait on direct and personal guidance from God, and volunteer lay ministers and elders. The revivalists believed that people need to be "saved" and "entire sanctified", beliefs that were taught by the early Friends in some form, including George Fox. The revivalists also brought programmed worship and paid pastors into their meetings.
In 1877, the Beans returned to Iowa. Bean was appointed Clerk of the Yearly Meeting on September 5, 1877, which split two days later.
Bean became more vocal in his opposition to the revivalists. In 1881, he published the popular and controversial article "The Issue" in The British Friend, in which he decried doctrines "which are preached and taught sedulously by a considerable class of our ministers."
College Park Association of Friends
In 1882, the Beans moved to San Jose, California, for the sake of Joel's health and to join other Friends there who had been a part of the Iowa Yearly Meeting. However, the controversy they sought to escape followed them. Shortly after their arrival, Bean was encouraged by Isaac Sharp to join him to visit Quakers across the United States and speak at their Meetings about his concerns. Bean's travels and his continued articles published in Friends periodicals made him a well-known opponent of the revival movement.