Yesterday, I started to answer some of your questions on church membership (see here). Today I want us to look at another 5 questions together:
Is it going to be hard work?
Again, marriage is helpful in answering this question. Is marriage hard work? Yes – most definitely! However, marriage is also meant to be wonderfully joyous! Any meaningful relationship, based upon promise (a covenant), will be both rich with joy and tough with commitment.
What does membership look like for non-believers?
If we get this wrong, it could look like a cliquey club (not what we want). If we get this right, it should look like a surprising and intriguing community of people who are living in a counter-cultural way (e.g. loving and preferring one another rather than self). Also, and most importantly, true biblical membership has one overarching goal: “we exist to make much of Jesus”. As a result, my hope is that when non-Christians get close to a community of people who are making that their goal, they will encounter our greatest joy and greatest satisfaction – Jesus himself!
What areas of church can you serve in that you can’t serve in as a non-member?
This is a good question, but one that we haven’t yet fully worked out. However, what I would say is that, we really want membership to be much more than a list of things you can and can’t do. Rather we are attempting to recover membership as something that is integral in helping shape the overall direction of the church and to be actively involved (through prayer, discussion and consultation) on major decisions in the church.
What happens if I don’t want to be a member?
I’m not totally sure what is meant by this question. On the one hand, if through the course of exploring membership here you think ‘this is not the church for me’, then as leaders, we would want to help you find a local church family where you can fully ‘jump in’ and be part of what God is doing there (that really is ok). Another understanding of this question is that you just need time to work out, ‘is this the church that I want to be part of?’ If that is the case, I would want to encourage you to take as much time as possible! However, if you are happy being here at Kingsgate on a Sunday but don’t want to commit to those around you in this church family (which is essentially what membership is all about), then I think that probably needs working through because healthy church life (again like marriage) is rooted in an expressed and clear commitment.
How long does it take to become a member?
For anyone coming through the door for the first time on a Sunday, we would want to encourage them to not rush the process because they are committing themselves to a group of people, and a very specific mission. It takes time to get to know other people and to really understand the mission. Also, it is vital that you are able to see how you can belong to this church. As a result, I think a good rule of thumb would be from walking through the door for the first time to then becoming a member, could take somewhere in the region of 6-12 months.
