Church Membership: Key number three to revitalization
Blog post by Justin Nash
This is the third post in a series that will examine five key revitalization strategies for the local church. Read the first post on discipleship here and the second on fellowship here. Each of these strategies is intended to deepen the overall spiritual character of the church, because a deepening of the culture and spiritual character of the people of the church is likely the best and most effective means of overcoming major obstructions to renewal. As the Lord deepens and instructs his people, the deficiencies, threats and necessary changes should become clearer. This post will consider the role of church membership in revitalization.
Church membership is taught and demonstrated in scripture
A biblical understanding of church membership and good membership practices are essential to a healthy church. While the word “membership” does not occur in the Bible, the concept is prevalent in the New Testament. Paul speaks of people being members of the body in Corinth (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Jonathan Leeman also helpfully notes the following in regards to church membership in the Bible. First, a church is something a person can be excluded from (Matthew 18:17; 1 Corinthians 5:2, 13), meaning that at one point that person was included in the church. This means a there must have been some type of formal recognition of who was a part of the church (membership). You have to know who is “in” the church before they can be put “out” of the church. Second, Christian leaders are made responsible for specific sheep (1 Peter 5:2). Membership makes it clear to leaders which sheep they will be held accountable to shepherd. Third, Christians are responsible to submit to specific leaders (Hebrews 13:17).[1] This is the flip side of the previous point. Sheep are not called to submit to just any shepherd. They are called to submit the shepherd who is responsible for them. Membership clarifies which shepherd the sheep follow. Just this short sampling demonstrates the presence and importance of church membership in the New Testament.
[1] Jonathan Leeman, Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 45.
Poor membership practices are the mark of a unhealthy church
Brian Croft writes, “A common mark of a dying, divided church is the lack of an understanding of what it means to be a church member and the absence of any standard to become a member of the church.”[2] How membership is viewed in a church can speak volumes about its health. Dying and declining churches tend to have a very poor understanding of church membership as evidenced by grossly inflated membership rolls. I am aware of one church whose annual report records 60 active members and 375 total members on the roll. Some of the people on the roll have not attended in decades, yet there is a strong reluctance to address the bloated membership numbers. Further, there is no process for assimilating new members into the congregation, nor are there clear qualifications for membership apart from baptism by immersion and a profession of faith in Christ. To correct this poor view of church membership and unhealthy practices, two steps should be taken. First, a process needs to be put into place and implemented to clean and correct the inflated membership rolls. Second, a process should be put into place to receive new members of the church.
[2] Brian Croft, Biblical Church Revitalization (Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2016), chap. 2, Kindle.
Clean the membership rolls, but do it slowly and cautiously
The major obstacles to addressing membership will be a poor or incorrect understanding of church membership, and a fear of relational strife if anyone is removed from the rolls. The process to clean the rolls should be seen as a multi-year process and should be approached with great patience and pastoral compassion. Rushing into this process too aggressively can actually make things worse. Therefore, this process should be undertaken with great caution.
One approach is to consider this a three-year process. Year one should be spent educating the congregation on the importance of church membership. This can be done in the Sunday morning sermon, Sunday school classes, Wednesday night Bible study and discipleship groups. Resources that could be used are “Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus” by Jonathan Leeman, “What is a Healthy Church Member?” by Thabiti Anyabwile, “I Am a Church Member,” and “I Will” by Thom Rainer. Year two will be spent reaching out to the inactive members on the list via letters, phone calls and visits in an effort to either reconnect them to the life of the church or determine their intentions regarding membership at the church. Year three will be the point where the rolls are actually purged of those inactive members who have decided to no longer be a part of the church. The removals will be voted on by the church body at a members’ meeting and then letters will be sent to those who are removed informing them of the church’s decision.
Create a new culture with a clear process to receive new members
Installing a process for receiving new members will help build a new and healthier cultural in the church regarding church membership. First, a membership class should be developed that offers potential members both information and expectations. Information would include explanation of the church’s doctrinal statement, information about the various ministries of the church and opportunities for service in the church. Expectations would elaborate on the church’s responsibilities to the member and the member’s responsibility to the church. Finally, every new member (none of this would be retroactive) will be required to affirm the church’s doctrinal statement and a concise church covenant.
Church membership is critical to church health
Practicing biblical church membership is critical to having a healthy and fruitful church. While the work of rightly ordering a church’s membership rolls and creating a church culture that understands and practices good membership is work that should be handled with great patience and grace, it will pay significant dividends over time in the life of the church.