Visit with Philip Hawes-

- Readings drawn from QF&P 11.1 -

Today membership may not involve putting liberty, goods or life at risk but the spiritual understanding of membership is, in essentials, the same as that which guided the ‘Children of the Light’. People still become Friends through ‘convincement’, and like early Friends they wrestle and rejoice with that experience. Membership is still seen as a discipleship, a discipline within a broadly Christian perspective and our Quaker tradition, where the way we live is as important as the beliefs we affirm.

Membership is for those who feel at home and in the right place within the Quaker community. Membership is also a way of saying to the meeting, and to the world, that you accept at least the fundamental elements of being a Quaker: the understanding of divine guidance, the manner of corporate worship and the ordering of the meeting’s business, the practical expression of inward convictions and the equality of all before God. Participation in the process that leads to admission into the community of the meeting is an affirmation of what the meeting stands for and of your willingness to contribute to its life.

Membership does not require great moral or spiritual achievement, but it does require a sincerity of purpose and a commitment to Quaker values and practices. Membership is a spiritual discipline, a commitment to the well-being of one’s spiritual home and not simply appearance on a membership roll.

+ Introduction +

At the request of Southeast Scotland Area Meeting, Laura and Henry met +with Philip at his home to discuss his application for membership. After a +pleasant lunch prepared by Philip's husband [name here please, sorry for bad +memory!], we settled in to worship, during which some excerpts from QF&P +11.1 were read. Philip then shared with us his background and the ways in +which his involvement +with Friends had developed.