have you ever excommunicated a member of your church?

[ktn4eg]

If by "excommunication" you mean permanently removing a person from the church's membership, then I would say "yes."

My church took this action some years ago, not because this person had some disagreement with any my church's doctrines, but rather because this person not only abandoned his wife and children, but also was found to be (and probably still is) "shacking up" with another woman.

If that isn't grounds for "excommunication," then I don't know what would be.

 

[Yeshua1]

I was disciplined from the membership of my home church in 1968 for "disloyalty". I didn't care (I wasn't loyal!!)

Sad thing - in WWII our church had a conflict with folks who were not in favor of war with Germany (they had family there) and created a stink. The church passed a by-law that the Pastor/executive committee could immediately dismiss a member and forbid them coming on church property for "disloyalty". To America, of course, and the war effort. Reasonable.

So 30 years later, because I had met with the pastor and executive committee about some horrific problems in the church and told them I was moving my membership, they used this executive power to immediately dismiss me. Disloyalty . . to THEM. Sad.

I was licensed to preach in a new congregation many miles distant and when the church sent for my "letter of membership" to be transferred they got the note that I was NOT a member because of "disloyalty".

I share this because I count it as a badge of honor!

My first experience regarding this was while in College, the Lord ahd saved mr Fraeshman year, and one of the cell group student leaders had started o live with his girlfriend, and they both had gone off in the Way...

was confronted to repent, to either live apart or get married, and to have them forsake the way..

refused, and was kicked out of the ministry and local church!

 

[Marooncat79]

While my husband hasn't done it personally (he's an associate pastor), our church HAS done it. It's not been a pretty thing but our prayer is repentance and restoration. In a few cases that has happened and a few cases resulted in true colors coming out and people leaving anyway in a very angry huff. But it is the healthy way to deal with sin that affects the congregation.

It's not been a pretty thing but our prayer is repentance and restoration

That is the proper heart towards having to exercise church discipline.

 

[kyredneck]

...have you ever excommunicated a member of your church?

Yes, I've been party to two 'exclusions', both of which were members of old families in the Church, and both were eventually 'included' back.

And would that be the appropiate "punishment" for a true Christian who jusr refuses to deal with known sin issues?

Seems to work.

At that point, would even his salvation be called in question, might he just be a professer?

If by 'salvation' you mean 'eternal destiny', no, both cases involved youthful sins of a sexual nature.

 

[HAMel]

Officially..., no. Excommunication is usually left up to the family clique to run 'em off. In most Baptist Churches this works extremely well.

 

[PreachTony]

I've been at my current church for about 13 years, and prior to that I was a member at another church nearby. Both churches have had to exercise the ability to "withdraw fellowship" from another member.

It's not something you want to do, but it is necessary sometimes. Regardless the situation, prayer is an absolute necessity.

 

[JonC]

Officially..., no. Excommunication is usually left up to the family clique to run 'em off. In most Baptist Churches this works extremely well.

:laugh: :tear: I attended a church like that once (turns out the family literally owned the church building).

 

[PreachTony]

:laugh: :tear: I attended a church like that once (turns out the family literally owned the church building).

A friend of mine attend a church that, over the course of a year, a certain family started attending, then started bringing more of the family, then attained a voting majority when handling church business. They ran off the pastor, ran off any family that disagreed with them, voted to dissolve the Deacon Board, put in one of the older male family members as pastor, and basically took complete control of the church.

It was sad to watch. :tear: My friend left about halfway through, as he realized what that specific family was trying to do. The church, which used to have an average Sunday morning attendance of about 70 now has perhaps 30, as even some of the original family that moved in has stopped going. They took the Baptist name off the sign, renamed the church, and basically just made it their own.

The sad part is I know this family. They were good people; not a group you would ever expect this kind of action from...

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Sorry. Forgot I've already responded to the OP.

 

[Marooncat79]

A friend of mine attend a church that, over the course of a year, a certain family started attending, then started bringing more of the family, then attained a voting majority when handling church business. They ran off the pastor, ran off any family that disagreed with them, voted to dissolve the Deacon Board, put in one of the older male family members as pastor, and basically took complete control of the church.

It was sad to watch. :tear: My friend left about halfway through, as he realized what that specific family was trying to do. The church, which used to have an average Sunday morning attendance of about 70 now has perhaps 30, as even some of the original family that moved in has stopped going. They took the Baptist name off the sign, renamed the church, and basically just made it their own.

The sad part is I know this family. They were good people; not a group you would ever expect this kind of action from...

They were good people;--not to be contentious, but I would disagree with you on that point. Sin seems to have overtaken them. I would hope that repentance would be soon for them

 

[PreachTony]

They were good people;--not to be contentious, but I would disagree with you on that point. Sin seems to have overtaken them. I would hope that repentance would be soon for them

Maroon - What I meant was prior to this, they were a family that would help anyone, they would do anything they could to help. I don't know what happened. When I say "they were good people" it's more of an idiom than anything. Obviously there is none good but God. I figured you would recognize the old southern saying of "they're good people."

And truthfully, we're often surprised when something like this happens, because it all-too-often comes from those we would never expect it from.

 

[corndogggy]

You guys don't seem to know what excommunication is. Booting somebody out of your local church where they are free to go to the next one down the road isn't excommunication.

 

[PreachTony]

You guys don't seem to know what excommunication is. Booting somebody out of your local church where they are free to go to the next one down the road isn't excommunication.

Well, seeing as most Baptist churches don't have a true "excommunication" the way Catholicism does, the best most of us can offer is the means of "withdrawing fellowship." Given the individual autonomous nature of most Baptist churches, figuring out a way of "excommunicating" someone would be kind of difficult. Or are you going to hang pictures by the front door of each church saying who is and who isn't allowed in?

Not for nothing, but Wikipedia (admittedly a weak source, but often one of good information, once you sort through the nonsense) says that many Protestant denominations use the term "disfellowship" instead of "excommunicate."

 

[Revmitchell]

Thank God Corndoggy showed up. We would have been totally lost without him.

 

[JonC]

Well, seeing as most Baptist churches don't have a true "excommunication" the way Catholicism does, the best most of us can offer is the means of "withdrawing fellowship." Given the individual autonomous nature of most Baptist churches, figuring out a way of "excommunicating" someone would be kind of difficult. Or are you going to hang pictures by the front door of each church saying who is and who isn't allowed in?

Not for nothing, but Wikipedia (admittedly a weak source, but often one of good information, once you sort through the nonsense) says that many Protestant denominations use the term "disfellowship" instead of "excommunicate."

I don't think we use the term "excommunicate"...although I suppose it is descriptive of the process (of church discipline) in that the one "excommunicated" is 'put out to the community' or 'excluded from fellowship.'

 

[corndogggy]

I don't think we use the term "excommunicate"...although I suppose it is descriptive of the process (of church discipline) in that the one "excommunicated" is 'put out to the community' or 'excluded from fellowship.'

Actual excommunication is typically much more serious and widespread, usually going well beyond your local church, up to a central authority, and you are banned from the entire network of churches, aka. "the church" but not meaning your local building. It typically has to a pretty serious offense, you don't get excommunicated for cheating on your wife. This isn't just a Catholic thing, Mormons take it very seriously for example. I don't see how you can use the term excommunicated to describe somebody who was booted out of your local church for sinning. If you ban somebody from every baptist church for unrepentant false teachings that goes against official doctrine then yeah call it excommunication.

 

[PreachTony]

Actual excommunication is typically much more serious and widespread, usually going well beyond your local church, up to a central authority, and you are banned from the entire network of churches, aka. "the church" but not meaning your local building. It typically has to a pretty serious offense, you don't get excommunicated for cheating on your wife. This isn't just a Catholic thing, Mormons take it very seriously for example. I don't see how you can use the term excommunicated to describe somebody who was booted out of your local church for sinning. If you ban somebody from every baptist church for unrepentant false teachings that goes against official doctrine then yeah call it excommunication.

Which is the point I was getting at... The local Baptist Church is simply too individually autonomous to uphold some sort of "excommunication." Not saying that's bad; I prefer individually autonomous churches over churches bound under an overarching authority or under a "central" church.

In a situation like that, the "central church" may not know what the individual churches need and it would be found lacking in providing for them. Autonomous churches can handle their own problems.

 

[Salty]

Which is the point I was getting at... The local Baptist Church is simply too individually autonomous to uphold some sort of "excommunication." Not saying that's bad; I prefer individually autonomous churches over churches bound under an overarching authority or under a "central" church.

In a situation like that, the "central church" may not know what the individual churches need and it would be found lacking in providing for them. Autonomous churches can handle their own problems.

and the answer would be if an ex-communicated member went to join another church - the new church would request a letter - when (or if) received by the new church, it would be up to them to accept them.

 

[PreachTony]

and the answer would be if an ex-communicated member went to join another church - the new church would request a letter - when (or if) received by the new church, it would be up to them to accept them.

True, but that could be avoided by the person going from one church to another simply going under "experience of grace" or as a "candidate for baptism." It's only very deceitful, but it's something that could happen.

I've found in my few short years that a person's sin will usually find them out pretty quickly.

 

[Salty]

True, but that could be avoided by the person going from one church to another simply going under "experience of grace" or as a "candidate for baptism." It's only very deceitful, but it's something that could happen.

I've found in my few short years that a person's sin will usually find them out pretty quickly.

Tony, you are absolutely right - and that is why a church should not be so quick to accept someone into membership.