children and membership
Pacific
Yearly Meeting has no provision for birthright membership.
From
birth, all children of the Meeting are under its care. Meetings must
be aware of and responsive to the needs of its
children, most particularly their spiritual needs. Meetings have
a
responsibility to help children develop a sense of security in their
relationship to the Meeting and in their own identities as Friends.
Children become aware of themselves as Friends, not only through
attendance at Meeting for worship and religious instruction,
but also through friendship with adults and participation in
Meeting activities.
Some
Meetings in Pacific Yearly Meeting and other Yearly Meetings recognize
Junior Membership, which the parent(s) or the
child may request at any time, from birth onward. However, there
is
no established category of Junior Membership in Pacific Yearly
Meeting at this time. Junior membership generally ends when the
young person reaches the age of 21, although he or she may apply
for adult membership earlier. If a child who holds Junior
Membership moves to a Meeting that does not recognize this, the
practice of the new Monthly Meeting will apply. Some Monthly
Meetings simply call all children whom they recognize as part of
their community “Children of the Meeting.” Like an
adult, a child
of any age becomes a member by application. A young person’s
request for membership should be considered according to the
Meeting’s regular procedures. <See “Becoming a
Member” p. 96>
Meetings
should be very tender toward a young person’s
application, making sure that she or he understands the meaning of
membership and feels welcome to participate in the life of the
Meeting. As there are seasons in a person’s life, Meetings
must not
expect each one to be able to do all that another can do at every
age.