Thoughts About Membership

In our congregation if I see someone in regular attendance I broach the topic of placing membership with the congregation. I did that recently and the person asked me what the reasons were for placing membership. Excellent question.

First of all when you place membership with a congregation you place yourself under the oversight of the Elders of a congregation who function to help you grow into spiritual maturity. They do that by helping you come to a complete knowledge of the scriptures, by encouraging you to identify and utilize your spiritual gifts and to strengthen you so that you won’t be tempted to sin.

In addition, when you place membership in a congregation you are recognizing that the members can also help you in the exact same way as the Elders do. We are mutually responsible to each other.

So are there any attendance requirements when you become a member? We certainly recommend that you attend all the services but for many that is unrealistic. We have elderly members who are home bound, we have members who cannot drive at night and we have members who have to drive long distances.

We have some in regular attendance who are not members but who attend better than many of our members. They just don’t want to place membership. The reality is that functionally they are members. They look like members, they act like members and the congregation for the most part thinks of them as members. I call them “common-law” members.

We have members on our rolls who we may not see but a handful of times per year who are in fact able to attend more but they don’t. Are they really members? Not really… not functionally. Few people know them and the reality is they are members in name only… they don’t contribute anything to the other members.

What about members who could come but prefer to watch livestream services? Are they members? Not really because they don’t function as members… they don’t participate at all… its like a one-way street.

Homebound elderly members are members because if they could attend they would attend and participate. They’ve demonstrated that throughout their lives and now serve as opportunities for our younger members to serve them.

When you place membership with a congregation you are telling them that you have confidence in them to help you on your spiritual journey. You’re telling them that you’re planning to get involved in all the responsibilities and activities that are associated with the congregation.

I had a client bring in a stray dog the other day that they “rescued”. She said… we don’t really need another dog but it needs a home. I told her that if someone offered her $10,000 for that dog today that she would take it in a heartbeat but give it 4-5 years and if someone offered her $20,000 for that same dog she would laugh in their face.

That’s kind of like placing membership in a congregation on day one you might not appreciate it that much but somewhere along the line it can be one of the most precious relationships you have. Get off the bench and get in the game.