CLC General Norms:
I. Membership

1. A person can become a member of the World Christian Life Community® in one of the following ways:
   1. By initiating along with others a local pre-CLC community, which is accepted by a regional or national community. The accepting community must provide the formation resources for the development of this new community.
   2. By being a member of an existing group of Christians which has chosen the CLC way of life. This group accordingly has been received as a local community by the regional or national community, which is its accepting community.
   3. By joining an existing local community which is the accepting community, and which provides the means of formation.
2. In whichever way admission takes place, the new members must be helped by the Community to assimilate the CLC way of life, and to decide whether a call, an ability and a willingness to live it are present, and to become identified with the wider Christian Life Community®. After a period of time ordinarily no longer than four years and no less than one, they assume a temporary commitment to this way of life. An experience of the Spiritual Exercises is strongly recommended as a means of arriving at this personal decision.
3. The temporary commitment continues as such until, after a process of discernment, the member expresses his or her permanent commitment to CLC, unless he or she freely withdraws from the Community or is excluded by it. The length of time between temporary and permanent commitment should be ordinarily no more than eight years and no less than two.
4. An experience of the complete Spiritual Exercises in one of their several forms (in daily life, a closed month, retreats over several years), precedes permanent commitment to Christian Life Community®.
5. The forms of these personal commitments are left to the National Communities. It is suggested that a printed model of these personal commitments be drawn up by each national community and that they include an explicit reference to the acceptance of the General Principles of CLC.
6. All that is said above must be understood and practiced according to age, culture and other specific characteristics. For this purpose the National Communities must develop formation programs, diversified if necessary for various groupings of members and the various exceptional circumstances which may arise for individual members.
7. The Christian Life Community® is a particular way of following Jesus Christ and working with Him to bring about the reign of God. It allows for many different individual responses and does not value one more than another. Within the richness of the Gospel and the tradition of the Church and as a result of their growing in Christ, some CLC members may desire to emphasize one or more of the many evangelical counsels by taking private vows. Likewise, persons or groups of persons who have taken such vows outside CLC can be accepted into the community on the same basis as all the others.

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