Membership A-23

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Church membership identifies people

as followers of Jesus Christ and as

those who belong to the historic and

worldwide community known as the

Christian Church. When people

become members of a local church of

the United Church of Christ they

become at the same moment members

of the United Church of Christ and the

Church Universal.

History and

Background

Following the death and resurrection

of Jesus Christ, the people who had

been closely related to him during his

earthly ministry--the disciples and a

number of other followers--began to

meet together. At Pentecost these

people began to preach publicly about

the meaning of the life, death and

resurrection of Jesus and to invite

others to join them in the worship of

God and the proclamation of the

gospel.

Small communities of believers

began to form, meeting together in

homes for worship, fellowship and

sharing in the sacramental meal of

communion. People who responded to

the preaching of the gospel and

wanted to join those of "the Way"

denounced their old way of life and

submitted to baptism as the rite of

initiation into the new age of the reign

of God and into the church, the

community living in anticipation and

hope of the reign.

These early communities of

Christians felt compelled to share the

good news of what had happened in

their lives. People from these

communities began to travel as

missionaries of the gospel of Jesus

Christ. Paul is the earliest and best

known of these missionaries who

gathered new communities of

believers around the Mediterranean.

A Theological

Understanding

of Membership

It is typical in American culture for

people to join and hold membership in

all sorts of groups and organizations.

The meaning of church membership is

often compared to other kinds of

membership and thus is

misunderstood. Christian belief about

membership is unique.

• Christians believe that God calls

people to be Christians, and

members of the Christian Church.

Membership is a response to the

initiative taken by God in a person's

life. “Membership in the body of

Christ and in any given community

of believers is voluntary in the sense

that faith, as response to God's

initiative, is a free act, and in the

sense that membership is developed

by willing participation in the

church's ministry and witness.”

• Membership in the Christian

Church implies much more than

membership in a specific

organization or congregation.

Membership in “God's people” is

part of membership in a specific

local church. A new church member

also joins with all who belong and

have ever belonged to the church all

over the world.

• Membership in the Christian

Church is more than membership in

a human organization. Christians

believe membership is not only in

the community known as the church

but also in the body of Christ. Paul

developed the powerful image of

the church as the body of Christ. In

its most fundamental understanding,

the church is the ongoing physical

presence of Christ in the world,

indeed, Christ's very body. Paul

wrote, “Now you are the body of

Christ and individually members of

it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). The

implications are astounding. While

God is not restricted to working

through the church, the church is a

major vehicle available to God for

God's mission in the world.

• Membership creates a covenant

between the church member and

God and between that person and

other members of the church.

People who enter this covenant

relationship promise loyalty and

trust in one another. Commitment to

this covenant empowers people to

infuse life in the church with a

quality not typically found in

human organizations--appreciation

and honoring of differences and

diversity. Most human

organizations survive and prosper

because they bring together people

who are alike. But the Christian

Church, through its sense of

covenant, preserves congregational

life. It holds members together even

when severe struggles over diversity

of actions and beliefs occur. The

Christian Church makes no

distinctions of race, sex, age,

tongue, nationality or economic

status. It seeks to anticipate, and to

be the first sign of, how all people

will dwell together in unity in the

coming reign of God.

Common Practices

People become members of a local

church of the United Church of Christ

in one of three ways:

• By baptism and either confirmation

or profession of faith in Jesus Christ

as Lord and Savior. In the United

Church of Christ infant baptism is

commonly practiced and symbolizes

the church's belief that God loves

the child and is at work in the child's

life. Parents and sponsors promise to

see that the child experiences life in

the church and to insure that the

child has an opportunity when older

to receive instruction in the

Christian faith and through

confirmation to make his or her own

decision to be a follower of Jesus

Christ and a member of the church.

The culmination of confirmation is

the acknowledgment by the person

that God has called her or him to be

a Christian and member of the

church, and the same acknowledge-

ment by the congregation and their

acceptance of the person into

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membership. There is usually a

span of 12 to 14 years between an

infant's baptism and the formal

welcome into membership in the

church at confirmation. The

United Church of Christ also

practices adult baptism. For the

person not baptized as an infant,

baptism and membership occur

simultaneously. That person,

having felt the call of God to be a

Christian and church member and

having undergone instruction in

the meaning of church

membership, professes his or her

faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and

Savior in the baptism and is

received into membership.

• By reaffirmation of faith.

Membership in a local church

carries with it certain

responsibilities. For a variety of

reasons, there are occasions when

people are unable or choose not to

fulfill their membership

responsibilities. Often these result

in people being dropped from the

membership rolls of a local

church. Later many of these

people seek to renew their

membership. The church receives

these people upon a reaffirmation

or re-profession of faith in Jesus

Christ as Lord and Savior.

• By letter of transfer or

certification from other Christian

churches. Membership in the

Church Universal is always made

real and concrete through

membership in a specific local

church. When members move or

seek to change the place of their

local church membership, they

transfer membership. The usual

procedure is for the church where

membership has been held to send

a letter to the church where the

person plans to affiliate certifying

that the person is a member in

good standing and releasing that

person for membership in the new

congregation.

Within the United Church of

Christ there are no denomination-

wide membership standards or

requirements. Each local church

adopts its own membership

requirements. Often these include

all or a combination of specified

attendance at worship, partaking of

the sacrament of Holy Communion,

financial support and participation

in the activities of the congregation.

Here's a sample of how membership

could be described:

Membership in this church shall

be open to any person who has

been baptized and has been

confirmed, or who has made

public confession of faith in Jesus

Christ as Lord and Savior. In

accordance with the gospel

covenant which binds into a unity

“faithful people of all ages,

tongues and races,” membership

is open to all without regard to

race, color, culture or sexual

orientation. Members shall pledge

themselves to attend the regular

worship of the church and the

celebration of Holy Communion;

to live the Christian life; to share

in the life and work of the church;

to contribute to its support, its

mission and benevolences: and to

seek diligently the spiritual

welfare of the membership and

the community.

Responsibilities

of Membership

Joining the Christian Church brings

responsibilities that include:

• Being a minister. A basic tenet of

Protestant Christianity is “the

priesthood of all believers.” Every

member of the church takes on the

mission of the church individually

and in community with other

members. As Martin Luther said,

every Christian is to be a “little

Christ” to the world. The ministry

and mission of Jesus Christ

become the ministry and mission

of every believer and church

member. A life of service to

people and the whole of the

creation is a membership

commitment.

Members of Christ's body bear

witness, in action and speech, to

God's presence in the world. This

mission they carry out by the

way in which they participate not

only in affairs connected with

their family and their job but also

in those of the community at

large: politics, education, leisure

and art. By personal acts of

service and sometimes resistance,

which aim to actualize God’s

justice, mercy and peace, and by

active work to alter structures

which deny God's will for

humanity, they participate in the

life of Christ. (COCU, 1985,

p.25)

• Regularly being part of the

worshiping community.

Sustenance for the life of faith is

derived from participation with

the congregation when it gathers

regularly for worship and the

sacraments. Also, a life of prayer

and meditation is expected.

They further participate in its life

through study of Scripture and

earnest thought concerning

God's will for the world and the

Church, and through the

generous support of its life and

mission by gifts, by work, and

by active devotion. (COCU,

1985, p.25)

• Being a steward. A steward is a

person put in charge of that which

belongs to another. Christians

believe that everything people

have--life, gifts or talents, time,

ability to earn money,

possessions--are gifts from God.

They are given in trust, given with

the responsibility to manage them

wisely and to offer them

faithfully. The offering of money

and the investment of time and

abilities to the church and its

mission are vital acts of

membership and signs of

faithfulness to the covenant.

• Being a learner. Commitment is

an act of the mind as well as of

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the heart. Faithfulness and service

increase in quality and capacity

through a disciplined program of

study and learning. A Christian's

growth and maturity occur through

a regular encounter with the Bible

and through a wide-ranging

engagement with other church

members in study and discussion.

Resources on

Membership

For further reading on church

membership, look at:

• The COCU Consensus: In Quest

of a Church of Christ Uniting,

Chapter IV, "Membership," 1985.

Order from Consultation on Church

Union, Research Park, 151 Wall

Street, Princeton, NJ 08540.

• Resources, news and discussion on

www.ucc.org and/or in the United

Church News.

Issues Facing

Your Church

• Theologically the church believes

more about membership than seems

to be the reality. While claiming to

be a unique community of people

among all human organizations, the

church seems to be no different from

these other organizations. Is the

church a unique human community

in your experience? How is this

uniqueness experienced by

members? How is it communicated

to and observed by the world?

• There are no standard membership

requirements in the United Church

of Christ. Some feel that

membership requirements should be

quite stringent. Others feel very

broad and relaxed requirements

represent God's welcome and

openness. For them, to make

membership requirements stringent

would exclude people from God's

love and acceptance. How does your

church understand this issue and

deal with it?

• Practices of preparing people for

membership vary widely within the

United Church of Christ. Some

young people go through an

intensive two-year confirmation

program in preparation for

membership, while others have only

a brief orientation period. Some

churches offer prospective member

classes, while others invite people to

membership upon their desire to join

without any preparation. What

should be part of a minimal program

of preparation for people who are to

become members?

• Many churches give considerable

attention to getting people to make a

commitment to membership but do

little about ongoing nurture and

growth in Christian faith for

members. How effective is your

church’s program for nurturing

members? How could it be

strengthened?

Questions

• In your church which of the three

ways of joining a church is most

prominent? What does your church

do to make membership by this

means significant to the new

members and the congregation?

• How does your church make it clear

that membership in it is also

membership in the United Church of

Christ and in the Church Universal?

Consultation on Church Union, The COCU

Consensus: In Quest of a Church of Christ

Uniting (Princeton, N1:, 1985), p.23.

Church Ministries, a Covenanted Ministry

of the United Church of Christ