This is really a question about the concept of Defined Membership, and more specifically, can a circle decide by consent to keep a person on a circle who has made it clear that they will no longer be able to come to the circle’s meetings? Our Policies & Procedures state that bare minimum requirement of being on a circle is circle meeting attendance, so the answer is “technically” no. But I would love some feedback or thoughts on how to handle this.
More context -
I’ve run into this issue a few times now, whereby there is a member of a working circle - someone who put in a ton of time in getting it off the ground, like a founder of a circle - and then life happens and that person no longer has the capacity to participate in meetings or take on any roles. The remaining circle members don’t feel comfortable “removing” that person from the circle - they want the person to still feel welcome when their schedule does permit, they value (and perhaps need) the person’s input, etc. But ultimately they land on some ambigious gray area - naming the person a circle member in absentia, or honorary circle member, or some other version of what I would call an excuse to avoid defined membership.
Here’s a direct quote from one of such people “As far as circle membership goes, at this point I’d like to stay on the periphery. If there is someone who can take my place and be more helpful, feel free to add them. I’d like to stay in the know and offer help when I can be helpful.”
Thoughts on how to explain to a circle why this ambiguity causes further problems, and any ideas of how to honor the outgoing person without suggesting they are a circle member in absentia?
Thanks!
Josh