special circumstances
sojourning
membership: The
Religious Society of Friends is best served when membership is held
in a Meeting near the
member’s primary residence. Friends who expect to be residing
temporarily near a Monthly Meeting which is not their own should
ask their Meeting for a Minute of Sojourn <See
Appendix 5b>,
outlining the reasons for and the probable duration of their
sojourn. If the home Meeting approves, a minute of sojourn is
written and sent to the new Meeting. A minute of sojourn does not
terminate the membership in the home Meeting. Friends who find
that their stay will be prolonged beyond a year should seriously
consider transferring their membership. When
a minute of sojourn has been accepted, the Friend may participate fully
in the visited Meeting, although their primary
financial responsibility and their membership statistics remain with
the home Meeting. Meetings care for sojourning members as they
do their own. Decisions made and the consequences of those
decisions remain the responsibility of the members of each
Meeting. A sojourning membership terminates when the sojourner
leaves the visited Meeting, whose Clerk should notify the home
Meeting.
membership
of isolated friends: Occasionally, a person who lives far from any
Meeting or other Friends may seek membership. When a Meeting is willing
to make a genuine, practical and lasting commitment to maintaining
supportive contact, membership may
be appropriate. When a Friend who is a Member of a Meeting
moves to an isolated area, they and the home Meeting should try to
locate a Meeting in that area. Membership in the Wider Quaker
Fellowship† is an alternative way to obtain continual contact
with
Quaker thought and activity. FWCC accepts applications for
membership in the Religious Society of Friends from isolated
Friends worldwide through the London office.
dual
membership: Meetings want to contribute to the wellbeing and health
of all those who attend. For this reason, applicants are
asked to be certain that they are whole-hearted in joining the
Religious Society of Friends.Membership in another religious body,
or even in another Yearly or Monthly Meeting, is difficult to
maintain. Therefore, dual Membership is discouraged.
There may be occasions when, for personal or family reasons, a
person finds it essential to maintain membership elsewhere. In such
a case, the individual Meeting may be willing to accept such a
person into membership. The Friend would have the full
responsibilities of membership in both congregations. When a
member of the Meeting feels drawn to join another religious
organization, the Meeting should labor with that member to
determine an appropriate resolution.
applicants
from preparative meetings and worship groups: When an attender of
a Preparative Meeting or Worship
Group wishes to become a member of the Religious Society of
Friends, he or she does so by applying for membership in the
overseeing Monthly Meeting, following the procedure outlined
above. It may be difficult to consult if the two Meetings are a
considerable distance apart, but such an application can provide
an
impetus for contact between the two groups involved in the process.
Ideally, the clearness committee should include members from both
the Preparative and the overseeing Monthly Meeting. It is
important for the clearness committee to arrange sufficient time
for
satisfactory visits with the applicant.
In the early stages of a Preparative Meeting, most of the
responsibility for membership applications lies with the overseeing
Meeting. As the group grows, its responsibility increases, but only
the Monthly Meeting can accept members. The Overseers of the
Monthly Meeting may ask the Preparative Meeting’s Oversight
Committee to comment on a membership application. When it
becomes a Monthly Meeting, the new Clerk sends to the former
overseeing Meeting a list of all who wish to transfer their
memberships to the new Meeting. These transfers are made
promptly without the usual visiting committees.