Faith & Practice

Faith and Practice Committee

The Faith and Practice Committee was established in 1992, and charged with developing a book of Faith and Practice for Illinois Yearly Meeting.

Following a long period of study and deliberation, the committee began submitting text to the yearly meeting in 2003.

The committee's practice has been to circulate drafts of each section throughout the yearly meeting for comments, then bring a revised version to the yearly meeting with a request that it be approved for a 5-year provisional period. During this period, additional comments are sought, and more revisions are made. At the end of the 5-year period, a new version is submitted to the yearly meeting with a request that it be approved for an indefinite period. Sections that have already been approved, either indefinitely or for a provisional period, are available below, as are any currently circulating drafts.

In 2003, the IYM Continuing Committee requested that the Faith and Practice publish a "thumbnail history" of IYM experience with books of discipline, and a rationale for IYM's effort to write its own Faith and Practice. These documents are available here in PDF format:
 

• Rationale for the IYM effort to write a Faith and Practice
• Thumbnail history of IYM experience with books of discipline

Available sections of Illinois Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice

• Concerning this Book of Faith and Practice (General introduction, adopted in 2008 for an indefinite period)
• Friends' Manner of Decision-Making (Discussion of Friends practices in business meetings, adopted in 2009 for an indefinite period)
• Marriage (Draft showing anticipated revisions to text adopted in 2007 for a 5-year provisional period)
• Membership (Adopted in 2008 for an indefinite period)
• Meeting Organization and Structure
  • Communities of Friends and The Monthly Meeting (Introduction to section on meeting structure, monthly meeting organization, adopted in 2010 for a 5-year provisional period)
  • Worship Groups and Preparative Meetings (Adopted in 2011 for a 5-year provisional period)
  • Quarterly Meetings (Unapproved draft)
• Appendix: Sample Membership Form (Unapproved draft)