Church membership isn’t outdated. It needs to be redefined, Rick Warren said during a conference at Saddleback Church. Skye Jethani reports:
Using Scripture to show the importance of commitment to a local congregation, Warren said membership was about being “a member in the Body of Christ.” And therefore membership is “organic not organizational.”
Warren shot down the notion that membership isn’t important as long as people attend the church. “The difference between an attender and a member is the difference between living together and getting married.”
Warren’s comment reminded me how common cohabitation is among young couples now. I wonder if ambivalence about marriage is linked to resistance to commitments in general, like joining a church. In earlier generations, marriage and membership were the norm. Not so much anymore.
I think coupling-up or marriage today is mainly about individual fulfillment. Long ago marriage had social meanings that it no longer has. So, today, we ask, rightfully in our cultural context, “what difference does a marriage license or church vow make?”
The answer we tend to give is like you said, “Not so much anymore.”
I’m not so sure i buy Warren’s take on membership. Persons who faithfully attend and participate in worship, engage in the life of the congregation, and, in our case, regularly receive the sacrament, have, in my opinion, demonstrated their membership in the body of Christ whether or not they have signed the right papers or whatever.
Steven, why do you think people who have demonstrated their faithfulness like this resist “signing the right papers” as you say? Do you think papers are unimportant? Would you say the same thing about a couple who didn’t care about signing their wedding license? I’m not trying to be contentious, really, just wondering. A piece of paper is just a symbol… but symbols matter, don’t they?
Ken, thanks for your comment.
Good questions. It may have to do with a prior question: What is one signing up for, and what does signing mean? Does it involve something like pledging allegiance to a particular institution and its doctrinal confessions? I don’t believe that is essential to being a faithful Christian. You framed the issue in relation to marriage and the marriage license. At least in our tradition the sacramental sealing of a marriage does not require a marriage license from the state. The state requires it as a matter of contract law, and the church acquiesces by acting as an agent of the state. But that’s another issue, so let’s get back to the primary question. My guess is that a general reluctance to sign on the church membership line is related to an overall decline in almost all fraternal organizations (Elks, Masons, etc.). In the end, I am much more concerned with a person’s engagement with God in Christ through worship, Christian education and congregational support than I am with whether they have signed on the membership line. Having said that, denomination is important. My church is an Episcopal Church. It is not something else. We will warmly welcome anyone who desires to worship with us, but it will be worship in the Anglican tradition of the Episcopal Church. Therefore I will encourage all who do worship with us to confirm their faith as Anglicans by becoming members, but not require it.
Thanks, Steven. Peace to you today.