The Fellowship of Friends was founded by Robert Earl Burton on January 1, 1970 in the San Francisco Bay Area. From its inception the vision of the Fellowship was, and remains, to establish a practical spiritual organization and to make it available to anyone interested in pursuing the spiritual work of awakening.

Today the Fellowship has approximately 1,500 members and maintains over 50 centers in various countries around the world. Along with the aim of making its teachings and practices available in all parts of the world, the increase in the diversity of its membership has transformed the Fellowship into an international spiritual organization that recognizes and learns from each of the esoteric traditions throughout recorded time.

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).