Church Membership, part 6

Over the last two weeks’ articles, we have listed 12 biblical responsibilities of a “church member”. Putting them all together would be similar to what many congregations have in place today called a church covenant. A church covenant is a declaration of church members’ responsibilities and one’s commitment to those responsibilities as a participating member of a congregation of believers. Church covenants can be helpful in reminding all church members that being a church membership is meaningful and significant, something more than just a name on a roll. Church covenants should be a reflection of the principles found in the “new covenant” that all Christians are under in Christ Jesus rather than something in addition to what has been spelled out in the New Testament regarding church.

Therefore, church covenants, should be taken seriously. It is much more than a contract or agreement or bargain because of the seriousness of what church is and the significance that the New Testament places on the church as the body of Christ. Church covenants are a promise of responsibility and accountability. It is a commitment of giving ourselves to a group of people with whom we share in Christ and with one another the burden and privilege of making disciples (Matthew 28:16-20; Matthew 22:34-40). It represents our commitment to each other as brothers and sisters in the family of God for the mutual edification of one another through the exercising of spiritual gifts as we each grow up to spiritual maturity in Christ (Ephesians 4:1-17).

Many church covenants start out something like this: “Having been led, by the grace of God, and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and upon our profession of faith and baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we do now before God and this congregation covenant to do the following”.

Then, the covenant will go on to list things that should reflect (hopefully) the “responsibilities” that we have listed the last couple of weeks in the Forerunner articles that come straight out of the scripture.

The learning of what church covenant means and what church membership in churches usually takes place through a church membership process. It takes many forms in different churches.

Next week, we will look at what a church membership process might look like.