Friends who live at a distance from their own monthly meeting but near another may find it useful to transfer their membership to the nearer one. On occasion, a Friend may request a transfer for reasons other than a change of residence. The procedure indicated below applies in every case. To initiate the transfer process, the Friend requests a letter of transfer from his/her current meeting to the new meeting. These two meetings each have responsibilities regarding the transfer.
- Duties of the meeting from which the member is transferring.
- When a meeting receives an application for transfer, the meeting clerk asks the clerk of the pastoral care committee to prepare a letter of transfer, recommending the Friend to the care of the meeting to which transfer is requested. (If the pastoral care committee is concerned about the applicant’s behavior or commitment to the Religious Society of Friends, this recommendation may be qualified or the request for transfer may even be denied.)
- If the meeting approves the application for transfer, the meeting clerk signs and forwards the letter to the receiving meeting. A copy of the letter is also prepared for the records.
- When the meeting issuing the transfer receives acknowledgment that the new meeting has accepted the Friend into membership, it terminates the Friend’s membership, noting its action in the minutes.
- Duties of the meeting to which the Friend is transferring.
- The clerk of the meeting to which a member is being transferred will acknowledge receipt of the letter of transfer.
- The clerk refers it to the pastoral care committee which in turn recommends action to the monthly meeting. If there is ground for serious objection to the transfer, the letter is returned to the meeting which issued it. If there is no objection, the meeting accepts the transfer and records the Friend as a member, and its clerk reports this action to the issuing meeting.
- Following a transfer, the meeting will appoint two or more Friends to welcome the new member, including an invitation to attend meetings for worship and business, serve on committees and otherwise fulfill the responsibilities of membership.
- Duties of recorders concerning letters of transfer.
- When notified of the approval of the letter of transfer by the accepting meeting, the recorder of the meeting issuing the transfer changes that meeting’s membership records and reports this action to the yearly meeting.
- The accepting meeting’s recorder adds the new member to the meeting’s membership records and notifies the yearly meeting of this action.
