Membership

Printer-friendly version

Guidelines for Membership

In the experience of the Membership Committee (formerly the Committee of Overseers), the time to apply for membership has come when an individual:

• Seeks to find and come into harmony with a goodness much greater than oneself, and wishes to pursue this spiritual journey in Friends Meeting of Washington.
• Knows and generally approves the aspirations of Quakers as set forth in the queries of Baltimore Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice.
• Understands and generally accepts the procedures in Friends Meeting of Washington meetings for worship and for business and in our committees, based not only on study but on direct participation.
• Feels committed to share constructively in the life of the Meeting, including financial support.

Guidance Regarding Letters of Application for Membership

An application for membership in the Friends Meeting of Washington is usually in the form of a letter which is referred for action to the Clerk of the Membership Committee.  Following are some suggested topics on which your comments in the application will be helpful to the Committee.

• How long have you been attending Meeting for Worship?
• What other Meeting activities have you participated in?
• How did you first hear of Quakers?  Of the Friends Meeting of Washington?
• What do you find appealing about Quakerism?  Does this contrast with other faiths you may have embraced previously?  Are there highlights in your spiritual journey you would like to share?
• Have you read works on Quakerism such as:
  • Quaker beginnings and history
  • Biographies or journals of Quaker leaders
  • Quaker principles, application of principles
  • Quaker organization, including its international nature?
• Is there a subject you would like to pursue further under Quaker leadership?
• Which Meeting activities would you like to help with?
• Concerns you may have or concerns you feel the Meeting should consider engaging in?
• Are you willing to assume financial responsibility, commensurate with your ability, for the maintenance and activities of the Meeting?

In addition applicants fill out the Application Form.

Principles of Membership

The Membership Committee convened a special summer meeting June 15, 2001 to examine the meaning of membership in Friends Meeting of Washington in light of frequently expressed concern about some non-resident members, who have been labored with frequently, but with whom the Meeting has completely lost recent contact.

The Committee reaffirmed its belief in long-standing principles articulated by the Meeting concerning the meaning of Monthly Meeting membership. A number of such principles have been articulated in the basic documents of our faith, particularly the August 1988 Baltimore Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice. These principles have been reaffirmed by our Ministry and Worship Committee as well as our Membership Committee at the request of the Committee of Clerks, and further reviewed and reaffirmed by our Membership Committee (formerly Overseers Committee) four times since April 1966.

We reaffirmed at this time that it continues to be necessary for us to follow these principles in order to assure a vibrant spiritual community. The principles include, as fully as time, strength, and circumstances permit, the following:

• To seek more fully to understand the testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends and to express them in everyday living within the family, the community, the nation and the world.
• To use the Queries frequently as a means of examining and directing oneself.
• To cultivate a quality of spirit and an approach to social problems based on principles of Friends.
• To develop an increasing understanding of religious truth through reading appropriate books and religious periodicals.
• To attend regularly the Meeting for Worship and the Meeting for Business in a spirit of devotion and love, seeking to participate in the life of the Meeting in accordance with Divine Guidance.
• To be willing to accept an appointment on meeting committees and to serve faithfully on them.
• To be aware of Friends projects and to participate in them as there is opportunity to do so.
• To contribute generously to the financial support of the local meeting and its commitments.

The Membership committee concluded that reference to these principles will be our guide as we consider recommendations to the Monthly Meeting concerning some lapsed members whose spiritual life and practice have moved elsewhere and who choose no longer to be in contact with the Meeting, despite frequent attempts to reach them.