Church Membership?

I’ve heard many pastors say that church membership is absolutely necessary for them to identify the flock that they’re shepherding.

But wouldn’t anyone who regularly attends church, has given a genuine profession of faith, and has been baptized be considered part of the flock?

Is church membership necessary? Why, or why not?

I think it depends on what you mean by "membership".

I attend a church that does not have a "church roll", per se. We have a contact list, but not an official membership.

The important part is to be a part of the body (which is more how you function within the church rather than being on an official list).

It is important for legal reasons

First - voting - who is allowed to vote?
Is a 5 year old who professed and then baptized be allowed to vote? Esp on a $200,000 loan from the bank
Should someone who is not attended in 5 years be allowed to vote?
The list can go on and on.

What do your State/Commonwealth laws require.

Membership = commitment.

When it comes to marriage - we want to see an actual commitment- ie a wedding ceremony

Likewise - we need to have a commitment to our church.

Salty said:

It is important for legal reasons

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Membership is particularly important when dealing with church discipline.
Members submit themselves to discipline by the leadership.
With non-members, discipline can become rather dicey.

Rob

Deacon said:

Membership is particularly important when dealing with church discipline.
Members submit themselves to discipline by the leadership.
With non-members, discipline can become rather dicey.

Rob

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It is hard to remove a nonmember from membership.
I don’t disagree with your point.
There is more than membership to be dealt with. There is a consideration of fellowship. This must also be addressed in church discipline. I don’t mean to say that you have neglected the thought.
There are other things that need to be addressed apart from voting rights.

While the Bible doesn't specifically address what we today call "Church Membership," there's at least one verse that captures the fundamental concept behind it:

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

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One of the key responsibilities that comes with being a pastor is to watch over the souls of the flock they are shepherding. However, this is dependent on willingly and joyfully submitting oneself to that authority.

Many churches typically have a formal process that people need to complete before they can become official members. That might involve sitting through an orientation class and/or signing an official church covenant. Personally, I think all of these requirements are unnecessary when it ultimately requires a continual inward commitment from the flock, regardless of a signature on a piece of paper.

I once inquired about joining a church and made it clear that while I was willing to be accountable to the leadership and fulfill all that is required of a faithful member of the flock, I didn't believe it was right for me to complete many of the arbitrary procedures they'd established. I was then informed that after a few months, I'd need to either shift my stance or find another church home.

Since I felt that the authority was being imposed rather than embraced, I found that I was unable to submit with joy and ended up looking elsewhere.

I believe that church membership is absolutely biblical. Note the following passages:

Acts 2:41, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." There has to be a list of members, or the term "added" has no meaning.

Acts 6:5, "And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch." Here the word "chose" presupposes someone doing the choosing, and in this case it is the Christian multitude of the church at Jerusalem.

Furthermore, the Greek word for "church," which is ekklesia (ἐκκλησία), presupposes membership, since it was originally the word for the legislative body of a Greek city-state. The voters were adult male citizens, and there had to be a list of those.

Churches of the Brethren typically believe that there is no church membership in the NT. Years ago I had a friend who was a Brethren missionary and didn't believe in membership. When they had a business meeting, whoever showed up could vote. I see tons of problems with that approach. What if someone wanted to take the church over? He could just gather enough friends to vote out the pastor and vote their man in.

Kai said:

Many churches typically have a formal process that people need to complete before they can become official members. That might involve sitting through an orientation class and/or signing an official church covenant. Personally, I think all of these requirements are unnecessary when it ultimately requires a continual inward commitment from the flock, regardless of a signature on a piece of paper.

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I do not see how a church could let someone be an official member without having them go through a class that taught them the beliefs, practices, and requirements of becoming a member.

It used to be called a catechumen — a person who receives formal instruction in the basic doctrines and discipline of the Christian faith in preparation for baptism or full initiation into the church.

It should also be required that a person who wishes to join a church should give their testimony and a summary of their spiritual development to the pastor or elders.

A church should not let a person join if they do not believe in the trinity, virgin birth, Jesus as the only way to heaven, repentance, new birth experience, Bible inerrancy, prayer, struggling against personal sin, sharing their faith with others, self-examination, loving our brothers and sisters in the faith, shunning evil, maintaining sexual purity, and other basic orthodox tenets and Christian morality.

John of Japan said:

I believe that church membership is absolutely biblical.

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I don't necessarily have an issue with it since I agree with the core principles behind it.

What might set me apart is how different churches go about bringing people into official membership, given that the Bible doesn't spell out a specific process for this. It probably makes sense to evaluate each situation individually based on the church's unique circumstances.

I certainly don't think that it should be seen in the same light as a gym or Costco membership.

John of Japan said:

When they had a business meeting, whoever showed up could vote. I see tons of problems with that approach.

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That's a good point to bring up. Only those who have been regularly attending and are in good standing should be allowed to vote on the direction of the church, so I agree with you there.

Ascetic X said:

I do not see how a church could let someone be an official member without having them go through a class that taught them the beliefs, practices, and requirements of becoming a member.

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I suppose that I'm just curious about why churches feel the need to formally designate someone as an "official church member." If someone shows up consistently, has made a sincere commitment to their faith, and has gone through baptism, wouldn't it make sense to just consider them part of the church community without extra labels?

Ascetic X said:

It should also be required that a person who wishes to join a church should give their testimony and a summary of their spiritual development to the pastor or elders.

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I think that should be expected of every believer, with or without the need to go through a formal process.

Ascetic X said:

A church should not let a person join if they do not believe in the trinity, virgin birth, Jesus as the only way to heaven, repentance, new birth experience, Bible inerrancy, prayer, struggling against personal sin, sharing their faith with others, self-examination, loving our brothers and sisters in the faith, shunning evil, maintaining sexual purity, and other basic orthodox tenets and Christian morality.

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I'd guess that if someone didn't believe in these things or wasn't convinced by the Holy Spirit to embrace doctrinal truth, they probably wouldn't stick around anyway.

Kai said:

I suppose that I'm just curious about why churches feel the need to formally designate someone as an "official church member." If someone shows up consistently, has made a sincere commitment to their faith, and has gone through baptism, wouldn't it make sense to just consider them part of the church community without extra labels?



I think that should be expected of every believer, with or without the need to go through a formal process.



I'd guess that if someone didn't believe in these things or wasn't convinced by the Holy Spirit to embrace doctrinal truth, they probably wouldn't stick around anyway.

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So it would be a "common-law" membership

So, I guess you have no problem with "common-law" marriage!

Salty said:

So it would be a "common-law" membership

So, I guess you have no problem with "common-law" marriage!

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I can see why you might make that comparison, but I’m not sure it’s quite the same thing.

Marriage is explicitly established in Scripture, and this process may include family agreements, public consent, property or bride price transactions, and entering into a lifelong covenant before witnesses.

When it comes to the local church, what biblical examples can we look to that show us a comparable path we might follow?

Kai said:

I can see why you might make that comparison, but I’m not sure it’s quite the same thing.

Marriage is explicitly established in Scripture, and this process may include family agreements, public consent, property or bride price transactions, and entering into a lifelong covenant before witnesses.

When it comes to the local church, what biblical examples can we look to that show us a comparable path we might follow?

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The point being - a commitment needs to be made

Granted - with church membership - it is much more easy to leave and/or mover to another church......

Some time in the past there were two church members that were caught having an affair by one of the spouses.
The couple was confronted by the church leadership and refused to end the liaison.
The whole church body was notified about the situation.
The couple was dismissed from church membership and asked not to return until there was a resolution of the problem.
Local pastors were contacted to insure that they did not join other congregations without dealing with their sin.

If they had not submitted themselves to the church as members, there might be the possibility of legal action against the church for slander.

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(1a) Membership helps to insulate the church body from burdensome legal action.
(1b) Membership aids the leadership in providing accountability.

(2) Membership as defined in a church's constitution, identifies those who may participate in voting.

(3) Membership formalizes a believer's commitment to Christ - leadership has some knowledge of the person's standing and testimony.

Rob

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Salty said:

The point being - a commitment needs to be made

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I agree—either way, it all starts with inward commitment.

Kai said:

I suppose that I'm just curious about why churches feel the need to formally designate someone as an "official church member." If someone shows up consistently, has made a sincere commitment to their faith, and has gone through baptism, wouldn't it make sense to just consider them part of the church community without extra labels?

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This is not about labels. Church membership is about giving attendees the opportunity to be more than just pew sitters. It enables them to be an integral part of the fellowship in a serious and devoted way.

One way to discern if a person has actually made “a sincere commitment to the faith” is to have them complete a new member class, like a catechism, and to proclaim their testimony to the pastor or elder.

Predators, witches, embezzlers, and other unsavory characters have invaded churches. Membership, including new member classes and background checks, can hopefully weed out some of the infiltrating tares.

Kai said:

I think that should be expected of every believer, with or without the need to go through a formal process.

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But you cannot truly ascertain their spiritual orientation without a formal process.

Kai said:

I'd guess that if someone didn't believe in these things or wasn't convinced by the Holy Spirit to embrace doctrinal truth, they probably wouldn't stick around anyway.

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You seem a bit naive in saying this. People can stick around for nefarious reasons.

I have known personally some very dubious and even malicious people who pretended to agree with a church’s doctrines, ethics, goals, and policies, but they attended the church for evil purposes.

Church membership is one way to get a better perception of a person and their character, when they have to attend new member classes and give their testimony to elders.

A loosely goosey attitude to church attenders all being on the same level can result in trouble.

I would like to it be more difficult to join a church as an official member. Anybody should be able to attend, but to become a member ought to be a more serious and devout experience.

Kai said:

I don't necessarily have an issue with it since I agree with the core principles behind it.

What might set me apart is how different churches go about bringing people into official membership, given that the Bible doesn't spell out a specific process for this. It probably makes sense to evaluate each situation individually based on the church's unique circumstances.

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Being Baptists, we have a distinctive of the autonomy of the local church. In this case, that means for me that I will not criticize any church for how they approach membership, as long as they have members. With most Baptist churches it is a simple vote yes or no, as long as the candidate has been baptized by immersion.

In the north, especially GARBC churches like to have an interview to make sure of their salvation and baptism. Our church does that, and I have served on the interview team. I like the approach. We also have a new members class that the pastor teaches, and I think nowadays that is important when the church is winning folks to Christ straight out of heathen America!

Kai said:

I certainly don't think that it should be seen in the same light as a gym or Costco membership.

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I completely agree.

Kai said:

That's a good point to bring up. Only those who have been regularly attending and are in good standing should be allowed to vote on the direction of the church, so I agree with you there.

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My Dad got "fired" as pastor in a Tennessee church, though the church was doing very well and many were being saved and baptized. The rascals who opposed him brought in folks for the vote who had not been to church for years, because the constitution had no provision for lapsed membership. God took care of the rascals one by one: cancer, car accident, etc. It is dangerous to oppose God's man when he is doing right and souls are being saved and the church built up.

Ascetic X said:

One way to discern if a person has actually made “a sincere commitment to the faith” is to have them complete a new member class, like a catechism, and to proclaim their testimony to the pastor or elder.

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All of those are good things to do and could be incorporated into Bible studies or discipleship groups. One way to tell if a believer really has made a sincere commitment to the faith is by how often they show up on Sunday and are involved in mid-week activities. I still don't see why that requires a formal process.

Ascetic X said:

You seem a bit naive in saying this. People can stick around for nefarious reasons.

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But the same is true of those who do go through a formal process and become official church members. Nobody can look into a person's heart and discern what their true motives really are.

You, @Deacon, @John of Japan, and @Salty have made some good points and have given me some things to think about. There absolutely does need to be a mechanism in place that allows others to identify genuine spiritual fruitfulness and vote on church matters. If church membership is the best way to do that, I don't have a problem with it, but what I'm saying is that I don't think it necessarily has to be the only way it should be done.