Re:members: Beth Allen asks whether the Quaker system still works

‘If our Quaker community is still a walled garden, does it have a gate?’

by Beth Allen 2nd October 2026

When we consider membership, we usually see it primarily as an individual matter. But in our national and local communities, membership has several corporate functions, so we can usefully ask: ‘What does using membership in this way show about our community?  Do we need this function? Could it be carried out differently, or better?’