"Not too public profession"

As a rule, it requires only a simple majority.

I have never seen a person approved by anything less than a unanimous vote.

Even if they were approved only by a majority, I think it could safely be said that the pastor and deacons would look into the matter further and try to get it resolved so there would be a unanimous vote.

 

Amen!

The Apostle Paul tells us that we should remove them from our midst whilst they are living in adultery, for example, but in the next letter to the Corinthian church, he tells them to restore the man because he has repented. I believe it's talking about the man who was excluded from the church in the 1st letter.

I just don't see how someone could be allowed to remain in good fellowship if they are living in such open and unrepentant sin.

It is better to cut off an arm than to polute the whole body.

We are all sinners, but once we are born again, there should be a visible change in us. We can not serve God and mammon.

 

No one is questioning the discipline of wayward members who are living in open sin. That is an entirely different issue.

 

To say that a membership class is extra biblical is not much removed from saying that voting believers into the Church is extra biblical.

In today's age, churches should be more exclusive than we are. Membership classes should set the standards for our people. Unfortunately, we let entirely too many people into our churches. We let those come in to the church that are not changed.

 

I agree. We have "membership classes" to help unbelievers understand the gospel clearly and answer any questions they might have (our form of the invitation) and to help weed out professional Christians who are thinking about becoming a part of our church for their own agenda.

This helps prevent the problems raised above. I believe it is far more effective than a simple "vote" by the congregation on someone 99.9% of them know nothing about (especially if you have multiple services on a Sunday).

What do you do if 25% of the congregation votes no? What about 40%?

My question is really this: is the vote actually productive or is it merely a procedure the church has practiced for years and has no meaning?

 

I believe for alot its just a procedure and has almost no real meaning.

We've got a New Member's Discipleship Sunday School class, taught by our pastor, and its seeing very good results.

What's a "professional Christian?"