Reflections on the ‘Red Book’: Membership
Judy Thurgood reflects on Quaker faith & practice 11.09
Overseers should be sensitive to the needs of attenders, including children and young people, and, when the time is right, encourage a consideration of membership… Whatever the method or moment selected, it is important for the applicant to become familiar, as appropriate, with our discipline: for example, meetings for church affairs are a part of the life of the meeting, and applicants should be alive to the reasons we conduct our affairs the way we do and the importance of playing an active role in them.
From Quaker faith & practice 11.09
Two visitors (one often from the applicants’ Local Meeting) will usually be appointed to share with the applicant the story of their spiritual journey and why they feel it right to apply for membership at that point. This meeting may result in the applicant realising that they are not yet ready for such a commitment, but usually a report is written and agreed by all three and presented to Area Meeting so that Area Meeting, in session, can decide whether the person is indeed right and ready to be considered a member of the Religious Society of Friends. This is a comparable process with at least some other Christian Churches, which require an applicant to attend a series of preparatory classes and then a church meeting agrees acceptance into membership.
Quaker faith & practice 11.09 reminds overseers to ‘be sensitive to the needs of attenders… and, when the time is right, encourage a consideration of membership’. This subject is also covered by 12.12j and 12.13h in Quaker faith & practice, under the responsibilities of elders and overseers. It is usually accepted that new enquirers will not be ready for membership for at least a couple of years, as Quakerism is not just an academic belief, and involves a commitment to attend Meeting for Worship on Sundays and to take part in local affairs. It is a commitment to a way of life, seven days a week, in how we live every aspect of our life. In the same way, there may be periods of our life when, for varying reasons, we do not attend our Local Meeting. This does not necessarily mean we have stopped living as a Quaker, but that our Local Meeting cannot adequately fulfil our needs at that time.
When we are accepted into membership we are entering a worldwide fellowship, and our support and commitment at area, national or international level may at times take precedence over our Local Meeting. At times like these, when we may not often be seen at our Local Meeting, our need for support from them may be even greater. In some Local Meetings a majority of members have only limited experience of this wider Quaker network, which is why our processes, which can be quite flexible are set at Area level, (Quaker faith & practice 11.04) which, after all, is the level at which our membership is held.
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