George Fox, Quakerism’s founder, said: “there is that of God in everyone”. In that spirit, Friends Meeting of Austin (FMA), a monthly meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, welcomes all who wish to join its community in the weekly Meeting for Worship and in its many activities. FMA is a place where people find acceptance and a place to explore their individual and unique spirituality with others who are doing the same, either in formal membership or as an attender.
Friends Meeting of Austin, like Quakers everywhere, has a deep commitment to justice and peace in its own community and beyond. Working on becoming an anti-racist Meeting, participation in the Sanctuary Movement in Austin, prison ministry, working to better workers’ lives in Mexico at the border between Mexico and Texas, are some of the ways that FMA aspires to live out that commitment.
Choosing to become a member of FMA, a Monthly Meeting in the Religious Society of Friends, is a very personal decision; a good time for a person considering membership to deeply consider their spiritual relationship with the Creative Spirit, the Divine, God, a Higher Power, Peace, the Inner Light, etc., and his/her/their desired relationship with a spirit-led community. Formal membership expresses an enduring commitment and willingness to support and serve both FMA and the larger Quaker Community.
If you feel that you are ready to explore membership, approach a member of the Care and Counsel Committee which will:
- suggest that you read the North Pacific Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice which was adopted, with addenda by FMA. Faith and Practice is a document that explains the practices of a Quaker Meeting, which can be found on the FMA website (www.austinquakers.org) or in hard copy in the FMA library.
- ask that you write a letter (long or very short) addressed to the Clerk of the Meeting (by postal mail or email) which will tell of your readiness in your spiritual journey to become a member of the Religious Society of Friends at FMA. You may find that the process of thinking about and writing the letter will be the first step in reaching clearness about becoming a member.
- form a Clearness Committee of three or four members. The Clearness Committee meeting(s), which can be thought of as Meetings for Worship with Attention to its Members’Spiritual Journeys, give opportunity for you and the others to deepen your and their understanding of spirit and the desirability of membership in FMA. A number of areas will be explored, such as motives for becoming a member, responsibilities of membership, children’s membership, spiritual and theological matters, Friends’ practices, membership procedure.
- receive from the Clearness Committee its sense of clarity about your becoming a member and present this to Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business (MWAB) at two consecutive meetings. At the second MWAB, approval of your membership will be recorded in the minutes and your name added to the FMA membership rolls.