Covenant membership, contact lenses, seven suggestions

Our discussion regarding adopting church membership at PCF is continuing these days primarily through our adult Sunday School class, which meets on Sunday mornings at 9am, and is thinking through what it means for PCF to be a healthy church. Our membership discussion, among other things, has also led us into the visioning process we’re currently engaged in as a church.

I continue to think and pray about church membership myself, and at the elders’ most recent meeting to discuss our church mission and vision, we discussed the great importance we want to place on affirming PCF’s high value on community. As leaders of PCF, we long to see community flourish and our commitment to one another increase.

I recently came across this quotation on church membership in the book Simple Church, which I was reading as part of our church visioning process:

‘It seems that the commitment to buy contact lenses is greater than the commitment to join many churches. Most churches only require new members to fill out a card or a triplicate form. It happens so fast. Expectations are minimal. Signing up for a department store credit card takes more time’ (page 158).

That’s true. And that is not what the elders want with membership at PCF. Just the opposite. Our hope and prayer is to increase belonging, and to increase commitment. We want to see God do a great work of uniting us together through covenant relationship.

Of course, covenant membership is not the only way to pursue community and commitment. Here are seven ways to build community that we can all pursue:

1. Make a conscious effort to meet one new person each Sunday. Write their name down and remember it — this will mean a lot to them when you greet them by name the following Sunday.

2. Open your home to others in hospitality. 1 Peter 4.7-9 says that because the end of all things is near, we should…show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Have someone over for a meal. Or if that is too much, for dessert.

3. Pray regularly for PCF and its members. Take the prayer page home each Sunday and pray through it.

4. Take one hour and visit someone at PCF who is in the hospital.

5. Sign up with our meals ministry to give a meal to someone in need.

6. Join a Life Group or some other PCF small group.

7. Think through how God has gifted you, talk to me or to a ministry leader about the current ministry needs at PCF, and jump into service at our church. Vacation Bible School this summer would be an excellent place to begin

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Mar 31, 09:08 AM