In a message dated 1/10/2009 12:16:25 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes: If a son of a Quaker family chose to leave the Society, what would happen to his family associations? Would he be dead to the family, as in some religions? If the family made a will, would he be excluded from that will? Sue Unlike some other religious societies, the Quakers did not "shun" those who chose another denomination (or no denomination). Quaker Meetings were generally open to anyone who wished to attend, regardless of actual membership in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Of course, it would depend on the reasons for leaving the Society. If it was just a difference of opinion the family relationships would generally not be affected too much. If there were actions deemed unacceptable, that would be different. I have family stories of a relative who preferred the nearby Baptist church to the Friends Meeting her family attended. Her father would not take her to the Baptist church so she walked to that church while the rest of the family went to Meeting. She married a young man from the Baptists and they lived happily for a number of years, and in apparently good relations with both families. On the other hand, another of my ancestors left his wife and several children and moved to another state where he remarried (I don't know if there was ever a legal divorce) and had another family. Not surprisingly, he was disowned by his original Meeting and did not join another, though some of his descendants from his second marriage did. I descend from his second marriage. Dolly **************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making headlines. (http://news.aol.com?ncid=emlcntusnews00000002)

On Jan 10, 2009, at 11:51 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Unlike some other religious societies, the Quakers did not "shun" > those who > chose another denomination (or no denomination). HI! I don't want to speak up too quickly here, because most of you know much more than I about the Quaker faith. But there are many instances in my Townsend Quakers where individuals married outside of the Quaker Faith (their spouse was of another faith), and were disowned from being a Quaker; they were not given a certificate to transfer, and that meant they couldn't go anywhere else (Quaker) without showing they had transferred from another meeting. Kim Townsend Spangrude