FGC Letters of Travel
By the Friends General Conference Traveling Ministries Program
All visitors sent out by the Traveling Ministries Program carry a Letter of Travel. This is somewhat similar to the traditional traveling minute used for over 300 years that was an excerpt from a meeting's minutes expressing the meeting's unity with the Friend's ministry and call to travel.
The letters of travel used by the Traveling Ministries Program are somewhat different and serve three purposes. First, they serve as a way of introducing traveling Friends, describing something of their work among Friends, affirming their leading to travel, and explaining the reason for their visit.
Second, the letter of travel provides a means for Friends General Conference to send loving greetings to other Friends and provides a spiritual connection for the two groups through the traveling Friends.
Third, it provides an opportunity for the group receiving the minute to return greetings and to report on how the visit of the traveling Friend was received. This is done through the endorsement of the minute. Traditionally, the clerk, or another Friend serving in the clerk's place, "endorses" the letter of travel at the conclusion of a visit. In a few sentences written at the bottom of the letter, Friends comment upon the visit and the reception of the message and work of the traveling Friends. This is a way of holding the traveling Friend accountable for the right use of his or her gifts.
Endorsed letters of travel carried by Friends visiting under the auspices of the FGC Traveling Ministries Program may either be given back to the visiting Friends to carry with them, or they may be mailed directly to the Coordinator of the Traveling Ministries Program at 3400 Kingman Blvd, Des Moines, Iowa 50311.
Additional Background in Friends Tradition
"Letters of introduction" and "travel minutes" are a tradition established long ago among Friends. The former is a communication signed by the clerk of a monthly meeting that identifies the person who is traveling as a Friend or regular attender in good standing. Nowadays Friends who want to take advantage of the hospitality of Friends through the FGC Friends Travel Directory, should carry such a letter of introduction. Any time a Friend is traveling and may worship with Friends in another meeting, it is nice to carry a letter of introduction. These do not require the approval of the monthly meeting.
A travel minute is a more formal document that indicates the bearer has a serious intention of visiting another meeting. Originally, the travel minute would quote an excerpt from the meeting minutes in which Friends approved the purpose and intention of the impending travel, and expressed their unity with the ministry of the Friend who felt led to travel. Nowadays the travel minute is usually written by the clerk, and the specific wording is not usually approved by the meeting. Today the process most often consists of the Friend who feels a leading to travel presenting this leading to his or her monthly meeting. After consideration, if the monthly meeting unites with the leading, it minutes its approval that the clerk draft a minute to be carried by the traveling Friend. Sometimes such minutes are forwarded to the quarterly or yearly meeting to receive further consideration and possible endorsement indicating these meeting's concurrence with the travel beyond the bounds of the quarter or the yearly meeting. At the conclusion of the trip the minute is returned to the meeting that issued it.
If the Friend feels called to travel over a period of time, to several or many different meetings, the home meeting will probably name a clearness committee to meet with the Friend and report back to monthly meeting before a general travel minute is approved. Once such an open-ended travel minute has been approved it is helpful to have a committee named that will meet regularly with the Friend who is traveling in the ministry in order to provide nurture, guidance, and seek accountability of the service being performed.
Friends who travel in the ministry under the auspices of FGC's Traveling Ministries Program carry a letter of travel from that Program specific to each meeting visited or trip undertaken. The Traveling Ministries Program does not issue open-ended travel minutes. In addition to a letter of travel from FGC, Friends may also have a minute from their own monthly and/or yearly meeting.
As the Spirit continues to pour out gifts upon Friends, and to open the way for travel among Friends to increase, we struggle to understand more deeply both our own wise tradition and what new permutations the Spirit might be bringing forth. This attempt to carefully differentiate among travel minutes, letters of introduction, and FGC letters of travel is our somewhat awkward attempt to remain clear about what we are doing, and why. We do not want to unthinkingly use -- or discard -- old terminology to describe our attempts to be faithful to today's leadings that have taken on somewhat different forms from those used in the past.
