Thoughts on Church - Membership

Next week I will be preaching at our church and the subject matter, well at least part of it, concerns the church. I have spent some time over the past few weeks listening to podcasts, reading articles and of course, reading the bible in preparation for next week. This week Rev Ray posted an interesting article on his web site - http://raymcd.blogspot.com/ - which asked a couple of questions about church membership.

Church membership is one of the things that I have been considering recently - well, more so I have been wondering why we have it. Church membership is an interesting concept, because, unlike other memberships that one may have, there are actually few, if any, perks that come with church membership. There are no "Member's Only" sections in churches, at least I hope there aren't. No 'Member's Only' parking spots. There are no special rates for members - a tithe is still 10%, even for members. Your prayer requests don't get jumped to the head of the prayer list just because you are a member. So what is the point of membership? More importantly, is there a danger to having church membership? Could people feel excluded from our community if they are not identified as a member? Does the rhetoric we use set up invisible barriers to people belonging to our church?

As I have thought about why churches have membership lists I can only think that they do so to identify those who are 'with them'. I guess that churches have membership rolls so they can provide a list of all the people who have decided that this particular church is the body with whom they will work and serve to build the kingdom. But does that truly require membership - or does it simply require demonstration? Are there people on the membership roll of a church who have taken a class, signed a declaration, or made some specific statement that are not working alongside the church to further the kingdom? Are there even people on those lists who are actively working against the direction of the church due to some grievance or aggravation they perceive to have been foisted upon them? What about those 'members' who are inactive, or move away to another city or state? Their name is on a list, but their demonstration of alongside-ness has ceased.

If the idea behind membership of a church is to help to identify a group of core people who can be counted upon to work with the church to fulfill its mission then how tough should the joining process be? I once heard it said that a church should be hard to join and easy to leave. The harder the joining process involved then the greater opportunity for prospective members to prove that their actions will demonstrate that they will be active supporters of the mission of the church. If the joining process is too easy then is there a greater risk of people becoming members and then not fulfilling their membership duties? What if we made the membership process more stringent, where people took time to complete a series of steps. During this time they would be demonstrating that they are willing to give their time, energy and money to support the work of the church? I wonder how many 'members' we would have in our churches if this were the case? I also wonder if some of the issues we currently face would vanish too with those who should not stay connected to our bidy but should move on to find one where their gifts and talents could be better used.

I know that for some this discussion could be a difficult concept - but maybe it is time to look at the things that we have always done and ask ourselves a few questions:

1. Are these practices biblical?


2. Are these practices practical?


3. Are these practices hindering anyone from joining our community as they travel along their own spiritual journey?


4. What would really happen if we ceased these practices?

Just some thoughts on the church. Check back this week for more thoughts as I try to sift through the information in my head and hear the voice of the Lord for this week's message.

I covet your prayers this week and hope to see you in Mt Oak on Sunday morning. If you read this and dont live close enough to travel to our church this week then check out the podcast of the message next Monday morning when it is available.