Joining Professional Associations:

Many of QPCC's professional members join the Association of Professional Chaplains or the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. Membership in these organizations is sometimes required by hospitals and/or agencies that hire chaplains and therapists. Such memberships also provide Friends with credentials that speak to professional standards and ethics. Both organizations require members to be active in a faith community and to be ordained or otherwise recognized by their congregations. Candidates for membership in these organizations need their congregations to vouch for their active membership, abilities, and calls to ministry.

Since Quakers do not ordain and many Yearly Meetings no longer record ministers, the pioneering Friends who first joined these organizations developed alternate ways to meet these requirements. Depending on the organization to which the candidate is applying, the steps that will need to be taken may include:

• Letter of endorsement that recognizes the candidate's MM or YM membership in good standing and endorses his/her ministry as a professional
  
• Letter of commissioning that sends the candidate out to minister to others
• A method of accountability with the Monthly and/or Yearly Meeting, such as quarterly or annual meetings with a committee of support or Ministry & Counsel

Many Friends meetings combine the letter of endorsement and the letter of commissioning into a single letter. it is important, however, for the letter to address both issues clearly.

Some Yearly Meetings (e.g., Illinois YM) provide endorsement. In other YMs (e.g., Western) the monthly meeting provides endorsement. You should be able to find out what your YM requires by contacting the YM office, Committee of Ministry & Counsel, Board on Christian Ministry, or similar body. You can also consult other Friends in your YM who are in your profession. If you would like to provide QPCC with information about how your YM helps Friends meet the requirements for APC or AAPC, please send your information to Ellen Hodge at ellen2c@hotmail.com or ehodge@cts.edu.