by Joel Giles
Occasionally, folks will ask me why we have official church membership. I felt it might be helpful to put in writing our practice and the reasons behind it.
We emphasize first and foremost the importance of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Such a relationship automatically makes a person a member of the universal, spiritual church, the Body of Christ (whether he/she is a member of a local church or not).
We do not stress official membership. We have non-members who have been a part of our fellowship for months or even years and who are involved in worship, learning, fellowship, and many areas of service. In fact, statistics in Free Churches are backward from many other types of churches: we typically have 1/3 more attenders than we have members. That is the case here.
We do have official membership. Here are some reasons:
1. It is part of the process of protecting the flock from error (see Acts 20).
2. It enables us to do things “decently and in order” (I Corinthians 14:40).
3. It provides the basis for corporate decisions by identifying “who we are”. These decisions include:
a. The appointing of deacons (Acts 6) and Elders (I Timothy 3).
b. The commissioning and sending of missionaries (Acts 13).
c. The handling of doctrinal disputes (Acts 15).
d. The handling of personal disputes (Matthew 18).
e. The handling of church discipline (I Corinthians 5).
We are aware that there are risks in maintaining an official membership role, such as: the possibility that membership becomes a pride-booster; the possibility that quantity might create complacency about quality; the possibility that some believers might choose to not worship and serve among us because of a negative experience in a previous church. But we feel that maintaining official membership provides much more advantage than risk.
Therefore, we do require that a person become an official member in order to vote, hold office, chair a committee, lead a ministry, or be in an ongoing teaching role. We feel that such activities are our official commitment to the person, and that the official commitment should be reciprocal. Before a person is allowed to make decisions for us, or to lead some segment of us, we think it is fair to officially clarify such issues as: Do you believe as we believe? Are you committed to this church’s well-being, basic philosophies, and basic way of doing things? Are you willing to be submissive to the Scriptural authority of our leaders?
Besides, becoming a member of Calvary Bible Church is not a difficult process! All it takes is a brief meeting with the Elders, at which time the candidate for membership shares his/her testimony of faith in Christ, and affirms agreement with out beliefs and practices. Unless there are significant differences (and folks usually know there isn’t by the time they get to that stage), it is basically a good time of fellowship and rejoicing over our common beliefs and goals.
Even if a person never becomes an official member, we welcome them to worship and learn and fellowship with us. And many means of service (outreach, music, building maintenance, assisting in Christian Education ministries, and some committee work, for example) are open to our church family-members and non-members alike. But our hope is that a person feels comfortable enough with our doctrine, policy, methods, and people, that official affiliation is the logical result.
I hope this gives you a sense of why we have official membership. It seems to us to be a practical and reasonable way to fulfill local church body life according to the Scriptures.
Sincerely in Christ,
Joel E. Giles
Senior Pastor, Calvary Bible Church
