Regarding Membership

Dear YF and YAF – please consider the following information and share your thoughts with Heidi and the Discipline Review Committee so that they can hear your voice. Thanks!

 

March 2013

Message from Discipline Review Committee

To: Clerks of Monthly Meetings, Allowed Meetings and to all Worship Groups    

 

Dear Friends,

During CYM in Session, 2012, Discipline Review Committee (DRC) facilitated a sharing session on the topic of Membership.  We heard heartfelt sharing on the importance of membership and belonging.  We also heard an openness to change.

From that session and in further conversations with Friends and Young Friends, the committee developed a proposal for a change in our structure of membership, which we hope will meet our needs.  We presented this proposal to Representative Meeting, November 2012, and we have been asked to write to all Monthly Meetings, Allowed Meetings and Worship Groups in order to stimulate discussion and thought about how to move forward.

Our proposal is as follows:

    Any Meeting (Canadian Young Friends Yearly Meeting, Half-Yearly Meetings, Allowed Meetings, etc.) that can meet the following criteria could hold memberships:

            1.  Convene a membership committee.

            2.  Be in relationship with the person requesting membership.

            3.  Be able to do the administrative tasks required.  These would include submitting a statistical report and responding to a request for a transfer of membership.  There may be other administrative tasks that need to be named.

            4.  Hold a Meeting for Business for the approval of the membership request and maintain records of minutes of the Meeting for Business.  The Meeting would also need to be able to respond to requests for travelling letters, and support for access to financial assistance.

 

Finally, we do not think it is necessary to qualify some memberships as “transitional”.

Thank you for taking this letter to your members and attenders for careful consideration.  Thoughts and comments may be emailed to me at:   

 

In Friendship,

Heidi Dick

Clerk, Discipline Review Committee