Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Workshop for Monthly Meeting
Recorders
Background
Duties of the
Recorder
Forms
Keeping the
Records
Depositing
meeting membership records
Leaders
Hiltrud Dodge, Membership Secretary,
PYM
Viv Hawkins, Director of Business and
Information Systems, PYM
Christopher Densmore, Curator, Friends
Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Goals
Each participant learn at least one
concrete thing about the keeping of membership
records
All participants get to know and feel
comfortable with contact persons at the PYM offices
All participants get basic
familiarity with the procedures for depositing records at the
two repositories
Background
The origins of membership and
recordkeeping in the Society of Friends
Sources of information about keeping
records:
Faith and Practice (see
Extracts
related to membership and records)
Baltimore Yearly Meeting. Committee
on Records. Handbook on Records : Their Creation,
Maintenance, and Preservation in the Meeting. c.
1996.
Records
Services Group website:
http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/friends/rsg
PYM Staff:
Staff at Haverford:
Staff at Swarthmore:
|
Christopher Densmore
|
610-328-8497
|
cdensmo1@swarthmore.edu
|
|
Patricia C.
O'Donnell
|
610-328-8572
|
podonne1@swarthmore.edu
|
Duties of the
Recorder
Maintain record for each individual
member: birth/adoption, marriage, children (by birth or
adoption), death, transfer in transfer out, receipt into
membership, resignation/release
Maintain lists:
- Births/adoptions, deaths, marriages,
transfers in and out
- Develop annual membership
statistics
Report to Yearly Meeting
office Monthly (as needed): changes in
directory data for individual members, i.e., new members,
terminations, changes of address
Annually: statistical report of
changes in numbers during the year (as of December 31,
due the January 31)
In general, and in cooperation with
the Committee of Overseers, serve the monthly meeting as its
expert on the practical details of membership
Forms:
(Coming soon to the Web)Individual members:
Some meetings still have large,
bound registers produced until the mid-20th
centuryPYM used to sell printed sheet;
dropped because too costly to manage
Produce from sample: photocopy on
acid-free paper
Lists: New members, terminated members,
births, deaths, marriages, transfers
Change reports: distributed by and
returned to PYM office
Annual statistical reports:
distributed by and returned to PYM office
Keeping
the records:
Even if working membership lists are
kept as a computer database, it remains essential to keep basic
paper records
Use acid-free paper, avoid ball-point
penIf using individual member sheets,
keep two alphabetical sequences: one for current members, one
for past members (ceased member file)Watch for all change of address
notices, birth notice, death notices, etc and add information
to member dataNotify overseers or monthly meeting
if they don’t already knowKeep log of changes that affect
numbers for annual reportKeep minors on sheet for
parents
See section in Faith and
PracticeFind out, if necessary by
reviewing past monthly meeting minutes, how your monthly
meeting has chosen to implement the options regarding
membership for children
Review exisiting records to
determine whether membership status is clear; ask parents
(or have overseers ask parents) if you cannot
tell
At least once a year (before annual
report): review all family sheets to determine which children
reached age 21; if they were registered by their parents as
members, start a new individual sheet for them; compare
recorder's records with Overseers membership lists
Depositing
meeting membership records:
Where: the Yearly Meeting
repositories:
The
Quaker Collection, Haverford College
Magill LibraryHaverford CollegeHaverford, PA 19041610-896-1161http://www.haverford.edu/library/sc/sc.html
Elizabeth Potts Brown, Quaker
Bibliographer: ebrown@haverford.edu
Friends
Historical Library of Swarthmore College
500 College AvenueSwarthmore, PA
19081-1399610-328-8496http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/friends
Christopher Densmore, Curator:
cdensmo1@swarthmore.edu
If you are unsure as to which is
(or should be) your meeting's repository, contact
either collection
When:
When a bound membership volume is
fullfilled using individual sheets, deposit ceased member file
approximately every 10 years (or if you have any reason to fear
that the file will otherwise go astray)
How:
Preferably in person
or via a delivery method that includes a
receipt and tracking (e.g., U.S. registered mail,
UPS)
Note: Records remain the property of
the depositing meeting or its successor (as defined in Faith
and Practice) and can be withdrawn by minute of that
meeting
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