Armchair Apologist
Well-Known Member
In the context of a congregational rule church, I agree 100%. You cannot have people coming in off the street attending a church business meeting and be able to vote on critical issues, bugeting, building projects, and so forth.
I believe that such laws take into account the ecclesiastical structure and expect you to act accordingly.
I actually spent a few years in a non-denominational "Bible" church of which I believe had somewhat of a "Brethren" background. Their position was that one's continual and consistent attendance implies membership. They also employed an "eldership rule" with a plurality of elders moving upon matters only when there was unanimous consent of all the elders. Members did not vote on anything although they did often consult with them to see if they were on board; case in point being the building of a new auditorium. They put forth the plans for the building including the cost and then brought it to the membership who "voted" based upon their willingness to make financial "pledges" to this project and based upon the pledges they had received, they reevaluated and adjusted their plans accordingly. I actually appreciated the transparency I saw and it seemed as if the members of the church were actually more involved in the process than the large congregational rule IFB church across town that I had left where one often felt strong-armed and coerced to make commitments they probably shouldn't have been making and even though one had a "vote," you didn't dare go against the "vision" of the pastoral leadership or you would quickly find yourself on the outside looking in and castigated by other members to the point that it would be unbearable to remain - quite cultic truth be known. I didn't go against the leadership though; I kept my mouth shut but watching my family suffer, I knew God was calling me away from this mess!
Regarding this Non-Denom Church, I had mixed feelings regarding their "membership" seeing that accountability might be a challenge. The eldership (and other members) would have to be mindful of other "regular attenders" and such would often be assimilated into "Life Groups" that met during the week (in lieu of a mid-week Bible study) and this was an environment which fostered accountability and community. You would think that someone who stopped attending for whatever reason would likely get a visit or phone call but not something I was personally privy to. Despite the lack of a formal membership, I felt quite connected and a part of this congregation. I was also a regular member of the "worship team" so I guess this was another means in which I was connected.
In many respects, I saw this non-denom church having far more stability than many "congregational rule" Baptist churches but as I said, the (presumptive) members did not vote. Churches that do have membership rolls need to have strict standards for who is and how is one to remain on these rolls. One thing would be to periodically purge these rolls of any non-attenders who have not been seen or heard of in two months or so. I have heard of nightmare business meetings where "Members" who had not attended for years came around and started trouble when the congregation was facing some sort of critical decision or whatever! If you are all loosey-goosey on this "membership" roll, you will have the very same problems as a hypothetical congregation with no membership roll and of whom the "members" get to vote!
Gets quite convoluted hence this long, drawn out response (sorry!) but definitely not something of which to take lightly.
