What’s a Church Member?
A little over a month ago, I had some great conversation about the idea of church membership with some friends in the car on my way to see Spider-Man 3 at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood.
Here’s how the conversation started. My friend, Scott, mentioned that he is not actually a member of Glenkirk Church, even though he’s been actively involved since he was in high school. My comment to him was that he’s probably more of a member than many of the actual members at his church–he has attended faithfully (I put this in past tense because he’s working as a Jr. High Director at a nearby church, but he still considers Glenkirk his home church), he attends the college group, he attends a guys’ small group, and has served in missions several times through the church.
But Scott has never sat through a “Membership Class.”
So, let’s think about membership. What are the pros of having people become church members?
- Membership helps churches keep track of whether or not their church is growing.
- Membership helps people make a commitment to the church.
- As Presbyterians, churches pay a “per capita” amount to the denomination each year (roughly $25 per member). This helps fund the denomination.
- Going through a membership class helps people discover “in a nutshell” what the particular church stands for.
- The word, “member,” is a reference to the fact that we are all members (i.e., body parts) of the Body of Christ.
I’m sure there are other pros, but these are some off the top of my head. But what about people like Scott–people who are faithful in their service and ministry in a congregation, but have never sat through a Membership Class?
Here’s what I think: I think Scott is a member of his church. He is everything that a faithful member is–he just hasn’t jumped through that one hoop called “Membership Class.”
So this is the question I’m wrestling with: Are there ways for people to become members other than sitting through a Membership Class? For instance, can a person be considered a member after, say, five years of faithful attendance, giving, and serving? Or are there other ways for a person to become a member?
I guess I just have a hard time imagining the apostles telling new believers that they need to sit through a 3-week class before they can be actual members of the church.
One other thing to consider is what exactly the word, “member,” suggests. But I’ll get into that in another post.
11 Jun 2007 markus
Markus Watson
I think that is a very interesting discussion. Ted and I have had the discussion many times in our marriage, mostly discussing the benefits to us, not the church, in us becoming members of a church. Not only the class, but Ted had to jump through another hoop to go from Presbyterian to Baptist, since we feel called to this particular church. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be a point to why the church requires it, but it is worth it in the end for the difference you can make if you are now considered a member and have a “voice”. I talked to the Pastor’s wife the day we turned in our membership card and she said we have been a member for a long time. This was just a formality. That was encouraging to hear.
Just a side note…Jayme and Jimmi had a baby boy, Aiden.
Karen, that’s pretty interesting what you guys had to go through. I’ve got to ask the question: Did Ted have to get an baptism? If so, it bugs me that a church would force that on someone who is baptized. But I definitely understand that sometimes you have to jump through hoops to expand your ministry….
And tell Jayme and Jimmi congratulations for me!!
Yes, Ted did have to be baptized. He actually went to Seattle to visit his brother and he baptized Ted. It has been a struggle the whole marriage because most of the churches we have wanted to join do immersion baptism and require it. It has always really bothered Ted also which is why it took so long. By the end it was more than jumping through hoops for him. It is definitely a story for Ted to tell if you ever want to hear it.
My very brief comment would be, yes, they should not have more requirements to join a church than there are to get into heaven, but are you going to let that stand in your way of making a diffence and an impact on people’s lives. If God calls you to a church then we need to get involved and do everything that God has called us to do there and most of the time you have to be a member to do it.
I know that is very simplistic and not always the answer. There are other reasons we have had a hard time finding a church to join over the years. We have both felt the desert of the last 11 years of not serving the way we should be and desire to do. The last two have been so much better and I feel will be better still now that we can make even more of a difference. We are ready to take on our passions and ministries by storm and impact people.
I’m done. I think I need my own blog. I’m using up all your space.
Makes total sense to me, Karen. I guess it’s just one of the things we have to deal with when it comes to human institutions…. Thanks for all your, thoughts. I’ll have to ask Ted about it sometime. And, yes, you should have your own blog!!! :-)
[…] few weeks ago, I posted some of my thoughts on the concept of membership. As I mentioned in that post, there are definitely positive aspects to […]