Contents:
The
Role of the Recording Clerk:
The proceedings of a meeting should be
carefully and appropriately minuted by someone designated to serve as
recording clerk.
Since meetings are held for different
purposes, the recording clerk's minutes reflect the essential purpose
of each meeting, be it for decision, for discussion, or for
inspiration. The recording clerk should state precisely the nature,
extent, and timing of actions directed to be taken and the persons
responsible. Ambiguity and inaccuracy must be avoided.
Minute should be written in the knowledge
that at a later date the Meeting may well need a full and
circumstantial account of its decision and how it was reached.
In the writing of minutes, the recording
clerk is more effective when there has been detailed prior
consultation with the presiding clerk so that names, dates, and
proposals are already familiar. It is then also possible for the
recording clerk to prepare tentative introductory sentences for each
item of business, especially those that are routine.
A recording clerk does not hesitate to ask
for help in formulating minutes. Where the action to be taken is
clear but the wording of the proposed minute is not, it is sometimes
useful to ask a few Friends to withdraw to prepare a final draft for
the Meeting's later consideration. In some cases, the presiding clerk
rather than the recording clerk will be in a better position to write
the minute.
The recording clerk may at times be asked to
prepare a minute on a matter of substance while the Meeting waits.
All others present should settle into silent and supportive prayer
until this task is complete.
In some instances a meeting may approve a
minute in principle, being satisfied that its later refinement need
not come before the Meeting again.
Once adopted, minutes retain their authority
until amended by a subsequent minute.
To prevent confusion and misunderstanding,
some Meetings find it useful for the recording clerk to read the
minutes and have them approved from time to time during the course of
the meeting or at the end; others read only those minutes referring
to weighty and difficult matters and approve the complete minutes at
the following session. Meetings follow a variety of practices in this
regard, each of which has merit. If minutes are considered at a later
session, those not present when business was discussed and actions
taken should refrain from sharing in the approval of the minutes.
Recording clerks and clerks are granted the
freedom to make only editorial changes or correct inaccuracies in the
minutes, taking care that their meaning is in no way changed thereby.
If other correction is needed, it should be brought before the
Meeting at a later session.
All minutes are preserved in ways that will ensure their availability and permanence.
From the section on Governance, Officers and Committees of Monthly Meetings Committee of Overseers
[From the list of responsibilities of
overseers]:
Membership list This committee should keep an accurate list, with addresses and telephone numbers, of all members of the monthly meeting. This list should be compared annually with the recorder's list, before the Checklist for Monthly Meetings is answered. Endeavor should be made to keep in touch with all members. Letters should be written to those who are nonresident to give them news of the Meeting and its activities and to let them know that the Meeting is interested in their welfare. When appropriate, such members should be urged to consider the advantages of transferring membership to a Meeting closer to their residence. A list of non-members who attend with some regularity should also be kept.
A recorder keeps records of births,
adoptions, deaths, marriages, divorces, and changes in membership
(see below). The recorder, or another person or committee specially
designated, periodically publishes a directory of persons associated
with the Meeting.
Care should be taken that minutes of monthly meetings for worship and business, when approved, are recorded on acid-free paper, appropriately bound, held in safekeeping, and when no longer required for current reference, deposited in one of the Friends' historical libraries at Swarthmore and Haverford Colleges. Records of other meeting bodies may be treated similarly, if desired.
Friends have found that the regular
consideration of these inquiries is helpful for maintaining good
order as the Meeting community fulfills its responsibilities.
• Are official membership records in the hands of a competent recorder? Are they reviewed at least annually by overseers?
• Are informal records of members and
attenders kept in a computer data base or data bases, from which can
be drawn useful information for building the Meeting community, such
as newsletter mailing labels, lists of children by age group, and
telephone numbers?
• If the Meeting is incorporated, are
its records maintained and its corporate procedures conducted in
accordance with good practice and legal requirements?
• Are minutes of the monthly meeting and of significant committees accurately and neatly kept on acid-free paper and retired from time to time to a designated depository?
The Religious society of Friends is a
community of faith based on experience of a transforming power named
in many ways: the Inner Light, the Spirit of Christ, the Guide, the
Living God, the Divine Presence. Membership includes openness to an
ongoing relationship with God and willingness to live one's life
according to the leadings of the Spirit as affirmed by the community
of faith. For generations of Friends, membership has been an outward
sign of an inward experience of Christ, the "true light which gives
light to everyone" (John 1:9).
In Philadelphia Yearly meeting, Friends
gather to worship in stillness, waiting upon the Divine Presence.
From this have come revelations of the love and guiding will of God,
revelations inwardly experienced that may be shared in words with
others present and expressed in attitude and action. Participation in
this form of worship is intrinsic to membership, since ours is above
all an experiential religion. Friends do not require acceptance of a
creed as a test of membership, believing that no creedal statement
can adequately describe spiritual reality.
Membership establishes a commitment. it
means that for each member the Religious Society of Friends provides
the most promising home for spiritual enlightenment and growth. It
commits a person to the daily pursuit of truth after the manner of
Friends and commits the Meeting to support the member in that
pursuit. membership includes a willingness to live in spiritual unity
with other members of the religious Society of Friends.
Members are expected to participate in communal worship, to share in the work and service of the Society, and to live in harmony with its basic beliefs and practices. membership entails readiness to live as part of the monthly, quarterly, and yearly meeting. Specifically, this means participation in meeting for worship, meeting for business, committee work, and giving time, skills, and financial support to Meeting activities such as religious education, pastoral care, and witness to the broader community. Since Friends reject the distinction between clergy and laity, responsibility for the full range of Meeting activities rests with the membership.
Friends meetings are often visited by people
from other religious backgrounds or with no religious ties. All
visitors should be made welcome, with continuing attention given to
those who return frequently and become regular attenders. Meeting
members should endeavor to get acquainted with attenders and be
available for spiritual support and guidance. Some Meetings have
committees concerned specifically for the care of visitors and
attenders.
The Meeting should invite regular attenders
to participate in its life, recognizing that they may become members.
They should be made familiar with Friends' way of sorship, manner of
conducting business, organizational structure, finances, and major
spiritual and historical writings, as well as Friends' periodicals.
They should be encouraged to attend business meetings and, at the
discrtion of the monthly meeting, to serve on committees. Attenders
should also be urged to attend sessions of quarterly and yearly
meeting and gatherings of Friends General Conference. Information
about groups such as the American Friends Service Committee, Friends
Committee on National Legislation, and Friends World Committee for
Consultation should be made available. All regular attenders should
be provided a copy of Faith and Practice.
Attenders who seem nourished through their
involvement with the Meeting, are comfortable with Friends' basic
beliefs and practices, and understand the responsibilities of
membership, should apply for membership. The Meeting, for its part,
should encourage such attenders to apply.
Before attenders apply, they may find it valuable to discuss their spiritual goals and concerns with Friends in whose wisdom, experience, and personal sympathy they have confidence. These Friends will guide the attender in deciding whether he or she is ready to apply or should first become more familiar with the Religious Society of Friends.
The monthly meeting is the final authority
in all matters concerning an individual’s membership. A person
joining a monthly meeting becomes thereby a member of a quarterly
meeting, the yearly meeting, and the Religious Society of Friends.
There is no membership in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting other than
membership in a particular monthly meeting.
Attenders who apply for membership should do
so in a formal request to the clerk of the monthly meeting, stating
why they are moved to join the Religious Society of Friends and
relating briefly their response to Friends' beliefs and practices.
The clerk may share such requests with the Meeting and then refer
them to the overseers, or may refer them directly to the overseers,
who in either case promptly appoint a clearness committee to visit
the applicant.
The clearness committee should undertake this visit as a serious responsibility both the to Meeting and to the applicant. The visit should take place in an atmosphere of openness and caring so that both the committee members and the applicant feel comfortable in exploring fundamental questions of religious belief and practice and the responsibilities involved in membership in the Society. Some questions the committee might ask are:
The clearness committee needs to be prepared
to respond faithfully to a wide range of questions that the applicant
may ask. The applicant should be encouraged to share expectations
concerning the Meeting and the significance of membership.
Applicants who are members of another
religious body are expected to give up that membership as they join
the Meeting, formally advising the other organization of their intent
to join the Religious Society of Friends, and endeavoring to obtain a
letter of release from their previous religious affiliation.
If the overseers approve the application,
they recommend acceptance to the monthly meeting. Action may be
postponed until a later session to give time where needed for members
to become well acquainted with the prospective member.
While the desire of an attender to become a
member is generally a cause for rejoicing, the overseers should not
hesitate to advise the Meeting to postpone acceptance or even to
reject an application if there is good reason to do so, such as an
applicant's inflexible disagreement with some significant aspect of
Friends' religious practice or belief. In cases where the overseers
recommend postponement of a decision and the Meeting agrees, the
overseers should keep in sympathetic touch with the applicant,
explaining the reason for the hesitancy and seeking to help remove
it. If and when the overseers judge the applicant to be ready for
membership, they should encourage the Meeting to reconsider and
accept the application.
If a person whose residence is remote from Meetings of Friends wishes to become a member, the monthly meeting should consider crefully whether the applicant's needs, as well as those of the Meeting, will be served by membership in absentia. Quakerism grows as we give and receive within a living community. It may help to recommend participation in the Wider Quaker Fellowship rather than membership in a particular monthly meeting.
All children from birth to maturity need to
feel themselves full participants in the fellowship of the Meeting,
to be nurtured in their spiritual development and their understanding
of the faith and practice of Friends, and to be guided and encouraged
in preparation for Quaker adulthood. The Meeting should
sympathetically help children prepare for the decisions they must
face, such as those regarding cultural conformity and military
service. As they mature, if they have received this care from their
Meeting, they will become increasingly conscious of the full meaning
of the responsibilities of membership in the Religious Society of
Friends and be ready to make their own decision regarding membership.
Growing up in a Meeting offers children an extended religious family.
It is the Meeting’s joyful responsibility to provide an
atmosphere of care, love, and recognition -- in short, a spiritual
home -- for all young people in the Meeting, regardless of the
membership status or that of their parents.
A monthly meeting’s approach to
membership for children should promote the goal of a Religious
Society of Friends made up of members by mature convincement. Some
Friends believe the process of nurture of the young toward mature
convincement is aided by a child’s sense of belonging fully to a
Meeting, a sense that comes only with membership. Other Friends
believe the process is aided by a status of associate member that
calls for a child to make an assertion of mature convincement when
ready to do so. Still others believe that any form of involuntary
membership limits a child’s freedom to choose. Monthly meetings
are encouraged to respect parents’ sense as to what is best for
their children.
Thus, either on their own initiative or in
response to an inquiry from the Meeting, parent who are members may,
at the time of their child’s birth or adoption or later:
[1] request membership for their child; [2] request
associate membership for their child; [3] not request any
enrollment for the child. If the parents are members of different
Meetings, the parents decide which Meeting records the child. When
only one parent is a member, children may be recorded upon the
request of one parent and with the permission of the other or, under
unusual circumstances, upon the request of one parent. Where there is
only one legal parent, that member may request membership or
associate membership for the child. Meetings are urged to recognize
the diversity of family patters and be sensitive to the concerns of
all involved.
Parents requesting membership for their
child should intend to raise the child as a Friend in a Meeting
community. The parents and the Meeting should help the child to grow
gradually into the responsibilities of membership, and should
encourage the child to take on specific responsibilities when ready.
The meeting has an obligation to those recorded as members at a young
age to ensure that as they reach adulthood they are aware that they
should thoughtfully consider their own commitment to membership.
Associate membership is available only to
children. It carries with it the full responsibilities and privileges
of membership up to age 21. (For yearly meeting statistical purposes
associate members will not be recorded after their 21st birthday.)
Associate members, when they are lead, may request full membership.
The monthly meeting should encourage associate members nearing the
age of 21 to apply. If an associate member does not take this step by
the age of 21, that person’s name will be dropped from
membership. If an associate member is not clear by that age about
applying and is dropped from membership, it is the Meeting’s
responsibility to continue a caring relationship. Such a person may
be encouraged to apply for membership when ready.
A person may apply for membership in a Meeting at any age, following the procedure set forth above. Meetings are urged to show a loving flexibility which recognizes the uniqueness of each person’s spiritual growth. Some people are spiritually ready for membership early in their lives; others are ready only as adults. In the case of younger applicants, it may be desirable to ascertain the support of the parents or guardian.
Transfer of
membership to another meeting:
Friends who live at a distance from their
own monthly meeting but near another will do well to transfer their
membership to the nearer one unless there is some very special reason
not to do so. Residence in the vicinity makes it possible to enjoy
the benefits, and to carry out the responsibilities, of membership in
a particular Meeting. inability to participate in the life of
one’s own Meeting means a loss to both the individual and the
Meeting. A member of one monthly meeting who moves to the area of
another is normally accepted as a member of the Religious Society of
Friends and welcomed into membership.
Pending transfer of membership, both
Meetings should cooperate in discharging their responsibility toward
the member.
Duties of the monthly meeting from which
the member is moving:
To initiate the transfer of membership,
Friends who have moved away from their Meeting should apply to that
Meeting for a letter of transfer to a Meeting near their new place of
residence.
When a monthly meeting receives such an
application for transfer, the overseers should, unless there is a
strong reason to doubt their member’s willingness to contribute
to the life of another Meeting, prepare in duplicate a letter of
transfer, recommending the Friend to the care of the Meeting to which
transfer is requested.
If the monthly meeting approves the
application for transfer, the clerk should sign the letter, the
principal copy being forwarded to the receiving monthly meeting, the
duplicate being retained for the records.
When the Meeting issuing the transfer receives acknowledgement that the new Meeting has accepted the Friend into membership, the original Meeting terminates the Friend’s membership, noting its action in the minutes.
Duties of the monthly meeting to which
the Friend is moving:
The clerk of the monthly meeting to which a
member is being transferred should acknowledge receipt of the letter.
Then the clerk should refer it to the overseers who should recommend
action to the monthly meeting. If there is ground for serious
objection to the transfer, the letter should be returned to the
Meeting which issued it. If there is no objection, the monthly
meeting should accept the transfer and record the Friend as a member,
sending information to that effect to the issuing Meeting, to which
the Friend in the interim has continued to belong.
Following a transfer, the monthly meeting should appoint one or more Friends to welcome the new member, including an invitation to attend meetings for worship and business, serve on committees, and share in the financial support of the Meeting.
Duties of the recorder concerning letters
of transfer
The recorder should keep a list of all
letters of transfer issued and accepted by the Meeting. The accepting
Meeting’s recorder should notify the yearly meeting of the new
member.
On occasion, Friends request a transfer of membership for reasons other than a change of residence. The procedure noted above applies in any case.
Sojourning member
Friends may attend a monthly meeting because they have moved temporarily into its vicinity, but may not wish to give up membership in their home Meeting, to which they expect to return eventually. their desires in this regard should be set forth in a minute from their home Meeting. Such Friends are listed as sojourning members of the Meeting they attend. Sojourning Friends may fulfill all functions that they are willing to undertake and that the host Meeting sees fit to assign to them. However, they should not be counted in the statistical reports of the host Meeting. Their sojourning membership ends when they leave the area of the Meeting where they have sojourned. Its clerk should then notify their home Meeting. those who continue as sojourning Friends for an extended period should be asked to examine their reasons for remaining in that status, and to consider a transfer of membership.
Joining other
religious bodies:
If members wish to leave the Religious Society of Friends and join some other religious body, they should notify their monthly meeting. The monthly meeting may give them a letter stating their good standing in the Religious Society of Friends. When they have been received in membership by another religious group, their membership with Friends shall cease.
Membership is a major commitment to participate in a particular community of Friends, and full participation in two religious bodies at once is usually impractical. Except in unusual circumstances, a member of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting belongs to a particular monthly meeting and should not hold membership in any other religious body, including another monthly meeting.
Resignation by the individual
Members may find that they are not in accord with the faith and practice of Friends or do not feel led to be involved actively in a monthly meeting over a significant period of time. They should seek the advice of the overseers or of others in the Meeting in whom they have confidence and try with their help to examine their own beliefs and practices and the reasons for disagreement or uninvolvement with Friends. If no resolution results, they may resign from the Religious Society of Friends in a letter to the clerk of their Meeting.
When a member resigns, the Meeting is not absolved from further care. A committee appointed either from overseers or from the Meeting at large should visit the Friend, inquire in love and forbearance into the cause of the resignation and, if appropriate, endeavor to bring the member back into the fellowship of Friends. A resignation may be accepted without appointing a committee when the Meeting is already well acquainted with the case and is satisfied that the member’s decision will not be altered by friendly efforts.
When the Meeting accedes to a member’s decision to resign, a minute should be made stating that this Friend is released at his/her own request. The individual should be informed of this action and is no longer a member of the Religious Society of Friends.
Release by the monthly meeting
When a member disregards the obligations of
membership and exhibits lack of interest or responsibility, fails to
reply to communications from the overseers or others, or passes out
of the knowledge of the Meeting, then being part of the Meeting is
obviously of little value to that member. In such cases it is
normally the task of overseers to attempt to restore interest and
involvement. Under exceptional circumstances the monthly meeting may
appoint a special committee for this purpose.
If continued efforts prove unavailing, the
monthly meeting should make a minute noting the circumstances and
recording removal of the individual from membership. The clerk of the
Meeting should promptly send written notice of this action to the
individual. Such notice should also remind the released individual
that an appeal to quarterly meeting is possible; in such a case the
quarterly meeting may be able to play a mediating role. It is,
however, the monthly meeting’s responsibility to make the final
decision.
In the case of a Friend whose actions seem
out of harmony with the standard of conduct appropriate to the
Religious Society of Friends, the Meeting, primarily through the
overseers, may seek to renew the commitment of the member to
Friends’ practice. If these efforts fail, and if the overseers
believe that they can accomplish nothing further, they should report
this to the monthly meeting, which may appoint a special committee to
make further attempts to reach a satisfactory solution.
If all these efforts are to no avail, the
monthly meeting should take steps toward removal of the Friend from
membership. The overseers or a special committee should present in
writing a proposed minute recommending such action. When the minute
is received by the monthly meeting, a copy should be given promptly
to the person involved, and action should be deferred to a future
meeting. Friends toward whom the monthly meeting has acted in this
way should be advised that they may explain their position to the
monthly meeting in person or in writing.
If the monthly meeting subsequently believes
that the membership of the Friend in question should be discontinued,
the minute of removal should be adopted and the Friend notified of
the action and of the potential mediating role of the quarterly
meeting. All dealings involving removal from membership should be
handled with the utmost patience, forbearance, and consideration, for
the sake of both the individual and the Meeting.
A person whose membership has been ended
either by resignation or by action of the monthly meeting, and who
desires to rejoin either the same or a different monthly meeting, may
do so by following the procedure outlined earlier for application for
membership.
Some persons may wish to retain membership in the Religious Society of Friends when, over a period of many years, they are not active in any monthly meeting. At its discretion, a monthly meeting may carry inactive persons on its membership rolls, while recognizing its obligation to report them as part of the basis for financial assessment by the quarterly and yearly meeting. [This sentence has been overtaken by the decision to drop the formal "quota" as of July 1, 1998.] Long-term nominal membership is generally discouraged, however, except when active Meeting participation is not possible because of poor health, residence far away from any Meeting (so that transfer of membership or sojourning membership is not feasible), or some other compelling factor.
Accurate information on the membership status of each member is kept by the recorder of each monthly meeting and shared with the quarterly meeting and yearly meeting as requested.
Both sections of the marriage license
obtained from the county or municipality are signed by the couple and
by members of the oversight committee as witnesses. The proper
section of the license thus signed is then returned within the legal
time limit to the office from which it has been obtained.
The marriage certificate is handed to the Meeting's recorder to be entered in the records of the monthly meeting. When this has been done, the recorder sends the certificate to the newly married couple.
Responsibilities
of the committee to oversee the marriage:
5. To deliver the certificate to the
recorder for copying or duplication for the records of the monthly
meeting and to give the recorder an address to which the certificate
may be returned.
6. To report to the monthly meeting whether the marriage has been suitably accomplished; whether the applicable legal requirements have been satisfied; whether the certificate has been properly recorded; and to report any name changes that result from the marriage for the recording in the minutes of the monthly meeting, for the quarterly meeting and for the yearly meeting.