Week 4: How do we talk about the processes...

[List Owner]

How do we talk about the processes by which a group of individuals becomes a Friends’ community working together?

[Default Identity]

This did not seem like a clear query. "How do we talk?" Loudly?
Softly?

One way is they form a Worship Group Y under the care of Monthly Meeting
X,
then some gain membership through X but some don't. Then when WG Y
becomes
an MM (lets say it does), then people may:

(a) transfer membership from X to Y
(b) become members of Y directly, now that it's an MM
(c) choose to affiliate in ways other than through the membership
program
(d) other options

The setup within NPYM is NPYM Monthly Meetings (NPYM MMs) are the only
institutions dealing directly with conferring membership. That's why
they
have M&O committees, in part, keeping track of (i) existing members
(ii) pending members (iii) resigned members (iv) left the area /
lost to followup members and (v) disowned (if practiced by the MM in
question -- liberal meetings tend to find "disownment" antiquarian).

The [x] Isolated Friend check box requires one to be a member of an MM
to already i.e. NPYM, although following Isolated Friends, has no power
to confer membership through the Isolated Friends program. These are
already NPYM members. Other categories of non-member and pending
member,
as well as members, may be followed by NPYM O&V (Outreach and
Visitation),
those attending Worship Groups especially (if hoping to become NPYM
MMs).

Once a member of an NPYM meeting, one is likewise considered a formal
member of the Religious Society of Friends, meaning if one moves out
of the area, maintaining membership is in principle as simple as having
the M&O clerk of one's previous meeting write to the new monthly meeting
in one's local area, presuming there is one (if not, maybe stay with the
old one and consider Isolated Friend status e.g. if living in a country
with no other Quakers).

Writing a letter to the Oversight Committee with an intent to become a
member is usually the first step. Quakers have no special rights to pry
and have a limited budget for background checks, so one should not think
of a clearness committee as a "background check" nor assume that a
member
has had such a background check done. Nothing in our bylaws or Faith
& Practice says former felons are unwelcome simply for having served
time.

Being a member means outwardly and publicly supportive of Quakerism, it
does not mean being "a good person" relative to others in society, which
is not to say members might not be good people, many are, just the label
"member" in itself does not carry any certifying powers as to ones
goodness
or badness all on its own. It means one is a fan of the Religious
Society
of Friends and wishes to publicly identify as belonging to that sect.

Those considering membership in a Monthly Meeting are encouraged to
become involved with committee work well beforehand, e.g. join Peace and
Social Concerns, a most important committee, where the rubber meets the
road. To quote from a recent internal NPYM memo (writing as NPYM IT
clerk):

"""
I sometimes compare them with the four trains on a Monopoly board:
M&O, W&M, P&SC, Nominating.

The Core Four:

M&O: membership, record keeping, "external defense" (e.g. against
bad PR, pro-active good PR, e.g. Facebook page, web site)

W&M: keeping the quality of the internal experience high (insofar
as a committee can do this), works with Program Committee (if separate)

P&SC: taking Quaker values into the world, making a difference to
society (probably the most important committee, where rubber meets road)

Nominating: filling the slate, which, with Business Meeting approval,
because the defacto cast of characters

Then you need a Calendar of Events, Contact Info, About Us and finally:
login access to actual database services, for opting in and opting out
of this or that program / listing / listserv etc. A control panel if
you will, for customizing one's own interaction with Quakerdom.
"""

[one typo fixed]

Note that Quakers have a different way of using "slate" than most
people in that the "defacto cast of characters" is also referred to
as a slate. From another memo:

"""
I've been stumbling a bit on this word "slate" of late because
Quakers
use it to mean

(i) "in need of approval" (e.g. from Business Meeting) but also for
(ii) the defacto cast of characters, the org chart for real, such
as we display at the NPYM level at npym_slate.


More evidence of my working to be clear on the meaning of "slate":

http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2015/02/quaker-terminology.html

I'd say a Quaker meeting with no "approved slate" is an oxymoron i.e. if
one has no clue what roles are played by what people, there's no play,
no "language game" (term of art in philosophy).

The antithesis of knowing who plays what role is "total improv" or
ad hoc everything ("adhocracy" I sometimes call it). Works OK in
the short term, tends to devolve into Lord of the Flies in the longer
term.
"""
[ one typo fixed ]

That's how Friends become members of the Religious Society of Friends
in a nutshell. Is that what the query was asking?

Kirby Urner
Technology Clerk
North Pacific Yearly Meeting