| Description | This address was written by Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury in the form of a report following an enquiry into the introduction of a scheme of Junior Membership within the Religious Society of Friends. Taylor Cadbury suggests that the implementation of this system would lead to 'the loss of a large number of potential Friends'. She remarks that Junior Membership would 'require every young person in the Society to go through tormenting indecisions that are a burden to the sensitive adolescent mind'. Taylor Cadbury advocates the Society's 'tie of Birthright Membership' which she describes as 'a stabilising pillar in a very difficult religious building'. She emphasises the importance of allowing young Friends to 'grow into' the religious life of the Society, suggesting that young peoples' 'desire for freedom in independence' would prevent them from becoming Quakers and therefore 'drain the Society of useful members'.
Annotations at the bottom of this typescript suggest that Dr. H. E. Collier and Amy E. Sturge were involved in the development of this report. The annotations also indicate that Taylor Cadbury's relatives in the Cadbury family took a keen interest in its conclusions. |