Friends General Conference

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Membership Care Committee Charge & Responsibilities

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  1. Committee Name: Membership Care Committee (MCC)
  1. Committee Charge:
    1. The Membership Care Committee attempts, as fully as possible, to be mindful of all members while being particularly attentive to individuals and families experiencing special joys and/or challenges. Additionally, MCC is responsible for discerning clearness with those who apply for membership as well as with those requesting to be married under the care of the meeting.
  2. Specific Tasks & Functions
    1. Discern clearness with applicants for membership.
    2. Discern clearness with couples seeking marriage under the care of the meeting.
    3. Provide spiritual support and guidance to individuals and families challenged with emotional, physical or spiritual matters and check in with members to see how they are doing spiritually, emotionally and physically.
    4. Bring the meeting’s attention to meeting members who need assistance.
    5. Engage with parents of children new to the Meeting to discern the membership relationship of their children with the Meeting; engage with associate members as they move toward adulthood to help in their discernment of their future relationship with the Meeting. Membership Care Committee will collaborate with the Youth Religious Education Committee.
    6. Provide, through Friendly Care person connections, an additional communication channel between members and the Meeting’s official structures for clearness and support. Communicate with members who have drifted from the Meeting to determine the cause, seeking where appropriate to draw them back into the life of the Meeting or encouraging where appropriate their resignation or transfer.
    7. Prepare the CPMM Statement on Membership and update, as needed. As gatekeepers of membership, Membership Care Committee members are responsible for assuring that the Meeting has a shared understanding of membership.
    8. Prepare, and as necessary update, the Child Safety Policy in coordination with the Youth Religious Education Committee. Membership Care Committee is responsible for nurturing the lives of our Meeting’s children.
  3. Other Units (committees, staff, task groups) with which the Committee will Maintain Clear Liaison:
    1. Membership Care works closely with the Operations Committee and the Meeting’s officers. Other connections are made as necessary for the committee’s work.
  4. Committee Composition and Terms of Service
    1. Size of Committee &dmash: Membership Care Committee has 16 members, all of whom are nominated by the CPMM Nominating Committee and approved by the Monthly
    2. Meeting. Only those who are members of the meeting may serve. The Meeting Recorder serves ex officio and meets with Membership Care Committee as needed. The Recorder’s ex-officio status does not preclude that person’s appointment to the committee as a full member of MCC. If Recorder feels called to undertake some MCC member duties, the range of those will be determined by negotiation between the Meeting Recorder and the MCC Clerk.
    3. Length of Officers' Term. there is a clerk (or co-clerks), a recorder and a web posting person. The terms are for one year of service. An officer can be nominated, as appropriate, for two additional terms.
    4. Core skills needed to do its work effectively are:
      1. emotional well-being,
      2. good listening/communicating skills,
      3. good grounding in Quaker faith, with a developed understanding of the pastoral function,
      4. ability and willingness to carry out committee assignments between meetings,
      5. comprehension of the importance of confidentiality and a strong commitment to honoring it,
      6. ability to be caring, compassionate, empathic.
  5. Frequency of Meeting
    1. The committee generally meets monthly from August through June, currently on the fourth Thursday evening of the month.
  6. Pattern of Reporting to Monthly Meeting for Business
    1. The committee typically reports its activities and recommendations monthly. In addition, the committee provides an annual report in the month designated by the Clerk of the Monthly Meeting.
  7. Approximate Annual Committee Budget
    1. The committee has a budget of a few hundred dollars and uses funds for supporting committee retreats and opportunities for spiritual growth and communal development.
  8. Date of Monthly Meeting Approval of the Charge & October 2020

This committee charge will be reviewed (and modified if necessary) at least within three years of its approval.

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