Is Church Membership Really Required?

This month we will be inducting new members into the most honored body the world has ever known: the church of Jesus Christ. The initiation fee for this club is so high that no human could have ever paid it; God himself had to pick up the tab. The benefits of the club never expire. The fellowship of the club is unmatched; you receive intimate access to the Lord himself (John 17:23).

With such benefits, you'd think church membership would be held in infinitely high esteem. But for many reasons, Christians seem to think less of it than ever before. If you're one who looks upon church membership lightly, then I invite you to reconsider.

When we hear the word membership, we immediately think of a club. A member pays dues, comes to meetings, and fulfills the obligations of a club member. When you move, or no longer have time for the club, you simply withdraw your membership and move on.    Continue at Ricky Jones

7 Reasons Active Members Drop Out of Church

In a recent post, I listed seven reasons very active church members drop out. These aren’t your casual members. These are the ones that are there in a leadership role or a serving capacity on a regular basis. In this episode, we discuss the seven reasons they may drop out and provide ways for churches to keep these members involved when they show signs of leaving.

1. Moral failure.
2. Dropping out of a group.
3. Burnout.
4. Traumatic event. 
5. Dropping out of a ministry.
6. Major interpersonal conflict.
7. Gradual withdrawal.     Continue at Thom Rainer

Membership Does Matter in Christ's Church

Membership Does Matter in Christ’s Church
Why is Membership Important?
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

1. Membership Accurately Pictures the Unity of the Body of Christ.
The body of Christ is made up of many members inextricably bound together through the redemptive work of Christ. And just as they make up the universal body of Christ, God has given to each individual spiritual gifts with which they can — and must — obediently employ in the upbuilding of the believers. This takes place in a localized assembly of gathered believers.

2. Membership Willingly Identifies with Others in the Body of Christ.
A believer in Christ should desire to identify with other believers through a covenant of discipline and witness. To identify with Christ and refuse to identify with Christ’s people is contradictory and must be confronted as sinful. A mark of true salvation is that a child of God loves those who are born of God. This includes an eager willingness to associate with those who are also saved by Christ and brought into the family of God.

3. Membership Eagerly Submits to the Leadership of the Body of Christ.
When a Christian eagerly and humbly enters into church membership, he obediently follows Scripture in submitting to the pastors and elders. Every Christian is commanded by Scripture to know their leaders, to respect them, and to obey them. This is impossible to do when one has not committed to a local flock.  Continue at Geoffrey Kirkland

Do You Think Your Church Is a Country Club?

“God did not give us local churches to become country clubs where membership means we have privileges and perks. He placed us in churches to serve, to care for others, to pray for leaders, to learn, to teach, to give, and, in some cases to die for the sake of the gospel. Many churches become weak because we have members who have turned the meaning of members upside down. It’s time to get it right. It’s time to become a church member as God intended. It’s time to give instead of being entitled.”

This is how Thom Rainer begins his excellent little book I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference. Growing out of the research of 557 churches in his denomination from 2004-2012, Rainer issues forth a kind, but firm call to Christians to re-examine their attitude and actions in relation to their local church. Rainer’s goal is biblical. He wants his readers to become functioning, unifying, unselfish, praying members of a local church who also lead their family members to be healthy church members who treasure the precious relationships God has given us in the body of Christ.

In Chapter 1, “I Will Be a Functioning Church Member,” Rainer relates the mindset he developed as a young boy when his middle-class parents became members of a country club. As he took in all the amenities that membership in the club provided, Thom writes, “I began to learn a lesson. Membership means perks. Membership means privileges. Membership means others will serve me. Just pay the going rate, and you can have others take care of you while you enjoy a life of leisure.”   Continue at Paul Tautges

Evaluating Sermons

I was once a member of a church whose senior pastor had retired. A search committee was appointed to do what was necessary to find a suitable successor. The task seemed daunting since the retiring pastor was a gifted preacher under whose ministry people of widely diverse nationality and social backgrounds had been incorporated into the life of a growing church. When asked what it was that drew them to this church, the answer almost always focused on the biblical expository, Christ-centered preaching. The search committee was determined to find a pastor who would continue the pulpit tradition that had so nourished and expanded the ministry of this congregation. That proved to be more difficult than any of us expected.

We discovered that the membership was quite capable of evaluating invited applicants in terms of personality, sensitivity for pastoral concerns, and communication skills. The last of these seemed to be of greatest importance to them. Applicants who were clear and skillful communicators and had captivating preaching styles enjoyed broad appeal regardless of their approach to the Scriptures or the substance of their messages. Since the content of the sermon was a primary issue with the search committee, it became necessary to instruct the congregation regarding the biblical substance which we have come to expect from our pulpit. I was asked to provide some general guidelines to sensitize the congregation as to what it was that the search committee was so eager to identify when evaluating the sermons of applicants for our senior pastor position.

Evaluating Sermon Content

There are three general categories into which sermons fall among preachers who take a text from the Bible as the starting point for their sermons. Many preachers don't even make a pretense of beginning with Scripture or they may have a Scripture reading that really has little or nothing to do with the topic about which they intend to provide advice or encouragement. Their sermons are a form of "group counseling" as Harry Emerson Fosdick once described his sermonizing. We are not addressing that form of preaching. We are rather attempting to distinguish approaches to the preaching task that are taken by those who are serious about the Bible and its message. They are committed to the authority of the Scriptures but approach the task of preaching from the Bible differently. When a congregation is searching for a pastor, the membership should be aware of these differences, at least in general, so that intelligent, prayerful choices can be made.    Continue at Derke Bergsma

The Main Reason People Leave the Church

In this week’s episode, Jonathan and I continue our discussion on church membership.

Last week we talked about what church membership is and what it means to be a church member—how it’s not just having your name on a roll somewhere, but being actively involved in the ministry and function of your local community of faith. This week’s episode deals with NOT being a church member. Specifically the main reason people LEAVE a church.

In an earlier post, I listed the following reasons people leave a church:

• “The worship leader refused to listen to me about the songs and music I wanted.”
• “The pastor did not feed me.”
• “No one from my church visited me.”
• “I was not about to support the building program they wanted.”
• “I was out two weeks and no one called me.”
• “They moved the times of the worship services and it messed up my schedule.”
• “I told my pastor to go visit my cousin and he never did.”

Do you see the theme there?   Continue at Thom Rainer

Is Transfer Growth Bad?

If you read books, blogs or hear talks on church planting or church growth you will eventually hear someone decry transfer growth. As the term would imply, transfer growth is the moving of people from one church to another. This is to be contrasted with conversion growth, which would describe new Christians joining a church.

The question that must be answered is, is transfer growth bad?

Transfer Growth is Inevitable

Every church is going to have people moving their membership to their congregation. There are a variety of factors here including relocating for work, school, or changes in theology or methodology. This is just a fact of life today. Pastors should not look at these folks as second-class visitors. 

Transfer Growth is Helpful

Let’s not forget that sometimes people have real, non-disciplinary issues at other churches that require them to leave. The pastor may have deviated theologically or philosophically. Further, occasionally pastors and church leaders begin to say and do things that make it very difficult for members to stay on board with the mission. After attempting to work through the issues, believers may need to quietly, and peacefully move to another fellowship. Upon this transfer of membership to a more like-minded congregation these folks will begin to grow and serve. This is not a bad thing (it may bring up a whole other conversation about how pastors at different churches should care for one another, but this is beyond my scope here). In this scenario transfer growth helps to serve those in need. It would be foolish for a church leader to look down upon an opportunity to serve a Christian brother or sister in their sanctification.   Continue at Erik Raymond

How to Conduct an Effective Membership Interview

At the outset, it may be helpful to acknowledge that there are no specific verses in Scripture that require a church to conduct an interview before recognizing someone as a member of its congregation. In the days of the New Testament, the process for becoming a member of the church seems to have been fairly brief and organic. A new member professed faith in Christ, was baptized, and was added to the church (cf. Acts 2:41).  

But for good reason many churches have found it helpful to set aside a time to talk with a membership candidate before he or she joins the church. In my experience, these interview sessions represent an extremely valuable pastoral opportunity. It's a chance to ask questions, provide pastoral care, and shape the candidates' understanding of their role in the church.

The purpose of this article is to provide some practical guidance on how to make the most of these interviews for the benefit of the member and the health of the church. And while there's no one set way to conduct a membership interview, I've found it helpful to try to achieve three things in the course of a one-hour meeting:

1. Get to know the candidate for membership.
2. Help the candidate understand the church.
3. Begin pastoral care for the candidate.    Continue at  Mike McKinley

Five Reasons to be a Member of a Local Church

As a pastor and a lifelong church man, I’m concerned about the increasing tendency among young evangelicals to dismiss church attendance as irrelevant to spiritual growth. Today, my friend, Dave Jenkins shares five biblical reasons for being a member of a local bible-believing church. Dave is as pastoral intern and blogger and the director of  Servants of Grace Ministries.

The belief that professing Christians should gather together as members of a local Church in is waning many sectors of Christianity today. Some feel that faith shouldn’t be “institutionalized” and should be a private matter between individuals, not something to be experienced in community.

Here are five reasons why I feel Christians should be members of a local church. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but these reasons give Christians a biblical framework to think through why they should be members of a local Church.

First, The Bible clearly teaches that God made a distinction between His people and the world (Lev 13:46; Number 5:3; Deut. 7:3).  Christ says that entering the Kingdom of God means being bound to the Church “on earth” (Matthew 16:16-19; 18:17-19). The New Testament refers to some people being inside the church and some people being outside the church. (1 Cor. 5:12-13). The church in Corinth consisted of a definite number of believers, such that Paul could speak of a punishment inflicted by the majority (2 Cor. 2:6). Not only does the New Testament speak of the reality of church membership, but its dozens of “one another” passages are written to local churches. The “one another” passages in the New Testament fill out our understanding of what church members should look like practically. Biblical church membership is important, because the church presents God’s witness to Himself in the world, and displays His glory. In the church’s membership, then non-Christians should see in the lives of God’s changed people that God is holy and gracious and that His gospel is powerful for saving and transforming sinners.  Continue at Daniel Darling

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What Are the Keys of the Kingdom?

Yesterday I promised to offer my interpretation of Jesus' keys of the kindom passages in Matthew 16 and 18. The following excerpt comes from Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus, due out in April from Crossway. For a significantly longer discussion of the keys, see chapter 4 of here.  

Excerpt begin:

One day, Jesus warned the apostles not to trust the teaching of Israel’s leaders (Matt. 16:1-12). Their term of office had expired, and they would be vacating the capitol building shortly, carrying the contents of their desks in boxes. Then he asked them who they thought he was. Peter, probably on behalf of all the apostles, answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus affirmed Peter’s answer, saying that it had come from the “Father in heaven.” Then he continued:

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matt. 16:18-19)

This is the first of two times Jesus uses the word church. Here he is talking about the universal church: the assembly of all Christians from all ages who will gather at the end of history. Jesus will build this end-time assembly.

How will he build it? He will build it “on this rock.” What rock? Theologians have long debated whether the rock is Peter or Peter’s confession. In fact, I think you have to say both. Theologian Edmund Clowney writes, “The confession cannot be separated from Peter, neither can Peter be separated from his confession” (The Church, 40). Jesus will build his church not on words, and not on people, but on people who believe the right gospel words (like the Word himself who became flesh). Jesus will build the church on confessors.   Continue at Jonathan Leeman

Pastors, Don’t Let your People Resign into Thin Air

Does your church let people resign into thin air?

A church member simply submits a letter or has a conversation with a pastor, and then poof!—they’re gone. And your church couldn’t say whether the person has joined another evangelical church or dropped off the face of the earth.

My brothers, this should not be.

TWO WAYS CHURCHES LET MEMBERS DISAPPEAR INTO THIN AIR

An encouraging number of evangelical churches seem to be regaining meaningful practices of church membership and discipline. But I’m concerned that even some of these churches, however unintentionally, are leaving their back doors wide open.

One way churches do this is procedural. In some churches, an intent to resign, whether submitted verbally or in writing, is regarded as a fait accompli. If someone “resigns” their membership, then they’re gone. After all, the church can’t coerce people into staying, can it? (More on this below.)

Another way churches might do this is situational. Let’s say that to resign from First Baptist Smallville you have to submit a resignation, then the pastor or elders look it over, and then the congregation has to vote to dismiss you from membership. Most of the time, people are moving away and joining a church in another town. Once in a while somebody leaves to go to another nearby church.

But this time, a cranky troublemaker who’s been giving the church headaches for years has finally had enough and decides to throw in the towel and resign. In a huff, this person says he’s just giving up on church—at least for now.  Continue at Bobby Jamieson

What To Say To Church Members Leaving for Poor Reasons

Let’s face it: there are better and worse reasons to leave a church. Are you moving to another city? That’s a good reason. Are you harboring bitterness toward someone who has offended you? That’s a bad reason. Does the church neglect to preach biblical sermons weekly? A good reason. Do you not like the church’s style? Probably a bad reason.

The question is, how should you respond to a fellow member who is leaving for what sounds like a bad reason?

The question raises a number of tough theological issues, such as how far the authority of the church extends, or how much weight should be given to cultural preferences. There are also difficult pastoral issues, such as knowing how to differentiate between a bruised reed and a fool.

But let me see if I can pack some of that theology into the form of practical counsel. Here are some bad ways to respond to such a situation, combined with better responses:

Bad response: “Oh.” This is the non-response. This is the “I don’t care” or “I need your approval so I’ll say nothing” response. I’m not saying that it’s never right to keep your mouth shut. I’m just saying that fear-of-man or the failure-to-love should not be what’s motivating you to say nothing.

Better response: “Why are you leaving? Can I help you think through it?” Love takes an interest and asks questions. Love recognizes that we’re responsible for the discipleship of our fellow members, and it investigates. Love does not fear having people not like you. It’s willing to ask the awkward question or offer the risky counsel for their good.   Keep Reading >>>

Goat Membership for More Buck

Kevin DeYoung wrote the following letter to a colleague who was thinking of establishing two sets of memberships in his church, one for believers and another for unbelievers.

While Scripture tells us that external membership to the church is validated by public profession of faith in Christ, pressure to rake up the numbers has prompted many to accept as bona fide members those who do not even make the slightest hint that they have been acted upon by the Spirit through a faith that expresses itself in confession (Rom. 10:9), thereby deconstructing beyond recognition what it means to be a part of God's covenant people.This letter is really addressed to many who are contemplating the leap to liberalism, in an attempt to dissuade them from the path of unfaithfulness to their calling: Keep Reading...

Membership Has Its Benefits: 4 Reasons to Join a Church

This morning I was with Ryan Townsend as he preached at Calvary Goodyear Church in Goodyear, Arizona.  The sermon was an overview of the book of Ephesians, in which Ryan sought to lay out a biblical vision of the church.  In describing the practical implications of church membership, Ryan suggested four reasons to join a church.  Here are my notes from this section of Ryan's sermon:

FOUR REASONS TO JOIN A CHURCH

1. For non-Christians

• Membership makes clear who is a Christian and who is not.
• The church is God's best evangelism "program."  A healthy, regenerate church membership provides a clear, compeling Gospel witness to non-Christians. Keep Reading...
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Twelve Reasons Why Membership Matters

1) It’s biblical. Jesus established the local church and all the apostles did their ministry through it. The Christian life in the New Testament is church life. Christians today should expect and desire the same.

2) The church is its members. To be “a church” in the New Testament is to be one of its members (read through Acts). And you want to be part of the church because that’s who Jesus came to rescue and reconcile to himself.

3) It’s a pre-requisite for the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a meal for the gathered church, that is, for members (see 1 Cor. 11:20, 33). And you want to take the Lord’s Supper. It’s the team “jersey” which makes the church team visible to the nations. Keep Reading...

5 Reasons You Need to Join a Church

A few days ago I was looking through my book The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (though at this point I can’t remember why I was looking at it). It’s amazing how much you forget about a book a few years after you’ve written it. As I browsed through it I came across a portion that I found very helpful. And I can say that without pride since it was drawn from Mark Dever’s Nine Marks of a Healthy Church.

As I wrote about how a Christian ought to develop discernment, and as I wrote about the best context to develop discernment, I wanted to convince readers of the importance of the local church. So here are 5 reasons that Christians need to join a church: Keep Reading>>>

Protect the Flock by Excluding Visitors

Elders are called to protect the church from people who would do them spiritual harm (wolves among the sheep). One of the ways we try to do that in our church is by not allowing people to get very involved in the life of the congregation until they are members. 

So in our church, non-members are welcome to attend and participate in the public services of the church.  We are happy to have them in our Sunday morning gathering, our Sunday evening gathering, and our fellowship meals.

But we don't let people attend small groups or serve among the children or lead music until they are members.  In order to join the church, a person must be examined by the elders and approved by the congregation.  Once a person has been through that process, we feel reasonably comfortable that they are safe (that is to say, not a wolf). 

But until the point, we don't want to encourage people in the church to look to that person as a leader by putting them up in front of the congregation to lead singing.  We don't want them teaching the children of the church.  We don't want people to completely let their guard down and trust them in the way we ask members to trust each other in small groups.

People who are "regular attenders" but who haven't joined the church sometimes feel like our policy is exclusive.  But ultimately my responsibility is to the flock over which the Spirit has made me an overseer.  And besides, they are welcome to pursue church membership at any time.

And if you're looking for an awesome sermon on church membership, Jonathan Leeman preached one at my favorite church yesterday.

HT: 9marks

9 Reasons Why Baptizing Children is a Bad Idea

The folks over at IX Marks have raised some very good points on why the church should not be so eager to baptize children:

1. Undermining the family: Church membership of children confuses the responsibilities of discipleship between the family and the church. The instruction is given to fathers to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, not to the church. This confusion can go two ways. Either baptism becomes a ‘family ordinance’ when it is up to parents to discern when a child is ready for baptism, effectively removing the ordinances from the pastoral oversight of the church. Or, the church ends up toaking over the role of the family, where the Sunday School teacher becomes the primary discipler of a child rather than the parents. Keep Reading>>>

Why Christians Should Covenant Together Through Local Church Membership

Why Membership Matters