Faith and Practice

preparation for membership

 An attender may wonder how to discern readiness for membership. Typically, one first becomes acquainted with a particular Meeting through regular attendance, at both Meeting for Worship and Meeting for Business, often for a year or more. Familiarity with the Meeting’s aspirations and ways may lead one to want to share in the responsibilities, difficulties and joys of its community. It is also important to become familiar with the history, principles and testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends, and with Pacific Yearly Meeting’s book of discipline, Faith and Practice.

 Attenders realize that it is time to apply for membership in various ways. One may discover that the faith of Friends and their ways have become central to her or his life. A spiritual leading which becomes clear and strong tells some that it is time, while many others report that it is the sense of having found their true place, of being “at home” after long seeking. For some, there may be a feeling of identification with and a responsibility for the Meeting and the Religious Society of Friends. Such realizations may indicate a readiness for membership. Attenders who are not yet members are urged to attend to such leadings as to any other guidance in the Light.