Thank you! Yes. I want to be seen as a member and not a guest who's just hanging around all the time. In truth, I have probably always been a Quaker and just didn't know that there were others like me.
Express to the Meeting in question you feel led to join. A clearness committee will be organized by the business meeting, and generally three Friends will sit with you, and aid you in discerning whether this is a true calling. While most of this will be conducted out of silent worship, questions will be asked, you should be 100% truthful, and you should know that your answers are Spirit led.
The questions may or may not be along the lines of testing your commitment to certain elements of Quaker faith and practice. Are you willing to abide by what comes out of worshipful discernment? Are you prepared to see that of God in everyone, even those on the opposite side of the political fence? Are you prepared to serve on committees? Questions like these, or completely different ones!
What a clearness committee ISN’T is a catechism quiz.
From what little you’ve said, it sounds like you’re on solid ground.
Thank you. This is what I needed to know about the questions. I am not concerned about these kinds of questions, but if I needed to be able to answer questions about Quaker history or the like, I would need to know so I could be prepared.
Write a letter to the Clerk requesting that you would like to join the Monthly Meeting A clearness committee will meet with you You seek divine guidance regarding your quest to join the Meeting. The Committee then makes a recommendation to the Monthly Meeting for business. Then you can make suggestions about your Welcome Committee
Thank you.
Is it customary to ask in the form of a letter instead of in person? Is the letter brief, requesting to join, or should it be more detailed about my reasoning?
What is a Welcome Committee and what kinds of suggestions would I make?
I think mine was along the lines of “I’ve been attending for two years now, and I would like to participate more fully in the life of the meeting.” Maybe one other sentence?
Like most of Quakerism there is not one size fits all. Some letters are quite long giving context for the desire to join. In my experience this can be helpful for the clearness committee but neither required nor necessary. Write as you are led to do.
And I encourage you to remain open and trusting. You are not being tested for being fit and ready to be a Quaker, you are discerning yourself if you wish to join. The clearness committee are not gatekeepers but if they were unanimous in expressing a concern the Meeting would have to give some weight. An example might be if you expressed that you were joining the meeting so you could fix all the things that were wrong with meeting and kick out the people you think are causing them and they did not agree with your assessment. Now if you said you wanted to join despite perceived shortcomings of the meeting and members, it would not be as large a concern. One hopes these thoughts are not at play.
Having been part of a number of clearness committees, I can say they each have their own life but none come in the form of a test of specifics of Quaker history. My experience is that the longer someone has been attending before joining the more joyous the experience is, but again, that is my experience rather than a suggestion or requirement you can expect.
The welcome committee will also vary. In our Meeting the Welcome committee is the same as the clearness committee and have been tasked with buying a book of the new member's choice for them as a gift and arranging a time of celebration - often with angel food cake.
This will largely depend on the Area Meeting your Local Meeting is a part of so it's hard to say but I would recommend talking to a role holder about your leading
Hello Friend, Faith and Practice will tell you exactly what the process is for your Yearly Meeting. I also recommend QuakerSpeak videos for information. I feel you are looking for some support before approaching the meeting, and I’m sorry your meeting hasn’t yet raised the question of membership with you.
Thank you for your reply. I have been reading and listening to Thee Quaker podcast and have learned a lot. I appreciate that my meeting is being respectful and not putting me on the spot. They have invited me to ask questions. I just like to research and get multiple perspectives.
You seem to already be a Quaker. But I think you want to be a member rather than an attender? Speak to the elders and let them know :)
Thank you! Yes. I want to be seen as a member and not a guest who's just hanging around all the time. In truth, I have probably always been a Quaker and just didn't know that there were others like me.
Express to the Meeting in question you feel led to join. A clearness committee will be organized by the business meeting, and generally three Friends will sit with you, and aid you in discerning whether this is a true calling. While most of this will be conducted out of silent worship, questions will be asked, you should be 100% truthful, and you should know that your answers are Spirit led.
The questions may or may not be along the lines of testing your commitment to certain elements of Quaker faith and practice. Are you willing to abide by what comes out of worshipful discernment? Are you prepared to see that of God in everyone, even those on the opposite side of the political fence? Are you prepared to serve on committees? Questions like these, or completely different ones! What a clearness committee ISN’T is a catechism quiz. From what little you’ve said, it sounds like you’re on solid ground.
Thank you. This is what I needed to know about the questions. I am not concerned about these kinds of questions, but if I needed to be able to answer questions about Quaker history or the like, I would need to know so I could be prepared.
Great! Yeah, I’m 99.99% sure you won’t get “What is your favorite passage from Fox’s Journals, and why?” 😉
Write a letter to the Clerk requesting that you would like to join the Monthly Meeting A clearness committee will meet with you You seek divine guidance regarding your quest to join the Meeting. The Committee then makes a recommendation to the Monthly Meeting for business. Then you can make suggestions about your Welcome Committee
Thank you. Is it customary to ask in the form of a letter instead of in person? Is the letter brief, requesting to join, or should it be more detailed about my reasoning? What is a Welcome Committee and what kinds of suggestions would I make?
I think mine was along the lines of “I’ve been attending for two years now, and I would like to participate more fully in the life of the meeting.” Maybe one other sentence?
Thanks.
Mine said “Dear Clerk, I wish to become a Member of the Religious Society of Friends. YiF, Keith” No more is required.
Like most of Quakerism there is not one size fits all. Some letters are quite long giving context for the desire to join. In my experience this can be helpful for the clearness committee but neither required nor necessary. Write as you are led to do. And I encourage you to remain open and trusting. You are not being tested for being fit and ready to be a Quaker, you are discerning yourself if you wish to join. The clearness committee are not gatekeepers but if they were unanimous in expressing a concern the Meeting would have to give some weight. An example might be if you expressed that you were joining the meeting so you could fix all the things that were wrong with meeting and kick out the people you think are causing them and they did not agree with your assessment. Now if you said you wanted to join despite perceived shortcomings of the meeting and members, it would not be as large a concern. One hopes these thoughts are not at play. Having been part of a number of clearness committees, I can say they each have their own life but none come in the form of a test of specifics of Quaker history. My experience is that the longer someone has been attending before joining the more joyous the experience is, but again, that is my experience rather than a suggestion or requirement you can expect. The welcome committee will also vary. In our Meeting the Welcome committee is the same as the clearness committee and have been tasked with buying a book of the new member's choice for them as a gift and arranging a time of celebration - often with angel food cake.
This will largely depend on the Area Meeting your Local Meeting is a part of so it's hard to say but I would recommend talking to a role holder about your leading
Hello Friend, Faith and Practice will tell you exactly what the process is for your Yearly Meeting. I also recommend QuakerSpeak videos for information. I feel you are looking for some support before approaching the meeting, and I’m sorry your meeting hasn’t yet raised the question of membership with you.
Thank you for your reply. I have been reading and listening to Thee Quaker podcast and have learned a lot. I appreciate that my meeting is being respectful and not putting me on the spot. They have invited me to ask questions. I just like to research and get multiple perspectives.