Its members collectively chose as their centre a church, for which they bought icons, candles, and oil.
They met at the church on certain holy days to attend requiem services for deceased members and to settle urgent matters.
In the spring they secretly gathered elsewhere (usually the forests near Brovary outside Kyiv) to elect their officers, to define the territory on which individual kobzars could operate, and to initiate new members according to a prescribed ritual.
To become a member one had to have a physical handicap, to study kobza playing with a master (usually for at least two years), and to obtain permission (vyzvilka) to perform independently, to know the kobzars' lebiiskyi language, and to pay dues regularly.
If members caught a kobzar performing who had not received a vyzvilka, they destroyed his instrument, and he was fined and even beaten.