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What’s the Point of Church Membership? By Alastair Bryan Sterne

November 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I really liked this article and thought I’d pass it on.

What’s the Point of Church Membership?
By Alastair Bryan Sterne

Fewer people than ever are committing to a church. Are their reasons valid?

When I hear the word “membership” I automatically think of sales reps in swanky gyms wearing track suits trying to sell me a gym membership that is more than I can afford and something I will inevitably cease to use. It smacks of insincerity. We all have different associations with the word and the challenge for most of us who are postmodern or “post-postmodern” in our upbringing is caution, if not skepticism, of all labels and camps. Hence when we attach membership to our notion of church it brings up all sorts of red flags. Various academics speculate that it is for this very reason that church membership is declining.

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Open Letter to Sondra Wheeler about Tithing and Membership

August 16, 2010 by

I have never met Sondra Wheeler, but Jason Byassee, the editor of Call and Response suggested that she would be a good person for what will probably be my last open letter in this series.  She is professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Seminary in Washington D.C. and has written about churches and money.

It has been very enlightening and helpful to write various denominational leaders asking for their advice and insight on various topics that have come up in my first year or so of being a pastor.  The idea was initially sparked by Michael Jinkin’s book, Letters to New Pastors, and so my first letter was to Jinkins.  This last letter, the ninth in the series, is a letter about whether tithing should be tied in any way to membership.  Should members be required to tithe?  It’s a question my church has wrestled with for several years now and currently requires certain kinds of members to be tithing and other kinds of members just to be giving regularly.  Wheeler’s response will be posted next week.

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A Ten-Year Vision for SCC

April 19, 2010 by

Peace, Friends!

On Sunday, April 18th at our vision meeting I presented five points toward a 10-year vision for SCC.  Let me take a moment and share in brief those five points of vision.

First, we will strengthen the execution of our current core values by following through on the dialogue group must-dos.  Not sure what our core values are?  You can read them on the website here.  We are generally heading in the right direction.  The next four vision points build on strengths that already exist at SCC and expand on our faithfulness in following Jesus.

Second, we will love and serve the poor and poor in spirit in our church and community by building and sustaining diverse friendships through support groups and small groups committing to missions.  SCC is great at collecting items and money, and we can add to this strength by giving our time to show the love of Christ to one another and our community.

Third, we will rework membership and double the navigating members by beginning a process to allow participating members to vote, continuing to encourage Financial Peace University principles, and instituting a yearly Commitment Sunday where members and regular attenders are given the opportunity to grow spiritually by making a financial commitment to SCC’s mission, to ignite authentic life in Christ.

Fourth, we will prepare to own a building by developing a three to five-year capital campaign during our 10-year anniversary this fall.  This capital campaign will have four priorities:

  1. We will tithe (10%) what we receive toward one or more missions;
  2. We will increase our current space to meet current needs (especially the space needs of our youth);
  3. We will pay off the mortgage on the pastor’s house ($116,000);
  4. We will use the rest to prepare to own a building (architect fees, down payment, etc.).

One last way this money may be used is to hire a consultant to help us run this capital campaign.  A capital campaign will put us in a strong place to own a building in three to five years which will help establish our presence in the community and provide stability for long-term growth which is essential to accomplish the fifth vision point.

Fifth, we will plant a church in 10+ years by giving 50-100 members to plant a totally independent church or a site/satellite campus.  This is a natural extension of our mission, and it is in our DNA as a church that was planted by another church.  This will allow us to grow while also staying relatively small and intimate.

The first three vision points which are short-term are pretty clear.  The last two which are long-term are a little less clear, but still clear enough to give us direction for the steps we need to take right now.  It is my hope that these vision points will lift our eyes from the ground that is immediately before us and focus them on the horizon of what God is dreaming for us and calling us to.  If you’d like a more detailed explanation of why I think each of these vision points is where God is leading us, you can find it our my blog here and post questions or comments there.  If you’ve got further questions, feel free to drop me an email.

Psalm 126 says, When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, then we were like those who dream. These five vision points are a dream for SCC.  I believe they are part of God’s dream for SCC.  Will you join the dream?

Peace,
Tom

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