[Magdalen] Sharing the JOY!

[Ann Markle]

The National Church has defined membership in 2 different ways, in my
understanding:  One is by baptism, confirmation, reception, or official
letter of transfer, which is entered into the big green register book; the
other is by regular attendance, at least quarterly reception of communion,
and "being known to the treasurer" (which does not even require a pledge --
this can mean regular giving by check, with name recorded.  Individual
parishes, as far as I know, make decisions about who will be allowed to be
a voting member and/or serve on the vestry.  It has nothing to do with
being "accepted into a parish."  My guess is that most parishes have
non-members who are still "accepted" as family.  The technicality is about
voting at the annual meeting (including participating in the election of
vestry/wardens) and also usually serving on the vestry (which includes
legal responsibility/liability for the parish).  But again, parishes and
dioceses may be more or less rigid about these criteria.  At St. Raphael's
we were fairly legalistic, because in the past, candidacy for and
membership in vestry was questioned when one or more controversial issues
arose, such as property purchase, indebtedness, building projects, etc.

Ann

The Rev. Ann Markle
Buffalo, NY
ann.markle at aya.yale.edu
blog:  www.onewildandpreciouslife.typepad.com

On Tue, Jul 28, 2015 at 2:28 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:

> For the folks who get them, I'm sure it's a very nice feeling of
> continuity. I was just thinking (1) never ever even heard of such a thing.
> Nobody ever brought it up in my travels, and (2) the conversation seemed to
> indicate that a person was not accepted into the parish if they didn't have
> this letter, which just didn't seem plausible to me, since so many people
> come from unorthodox (or non-existent) prior churches.  I certainly wasn't
> objecting to it, just astounded that a bishop can prevent a person from
> joining a parish without the proper paperwork.
>