Why Do We Need Members Meetings?
December 8, 2025
December 8, 2025
That was a question one of my kids asked as she entered her teenage years. It was a question that prompted a special coffee date (hot chocolate for her) in which we opened our Bibles to talk about why our church has semi-monthly meetings. As a pastor’s kid, she had listened in meeting after meeting and concluded they were a waste of her time. I needed to show her that members meetings are biblically necessary and spiritually significant.
I suspect the phrases “spiritually significant” and “biblically necessary” don’t immediately come to mind when you think of a members meeting. But they are appropriate. In fact, if members meetings were viewed from a biblical point of view, they would be appreciated by more of our members.
Let me offer a few biblical considerations for why members meetings are so vital for a church’s health.
As members of Christ’s body, we’ve made a commitment to one another to encourage one another until he returns (Heb. 3:12–13). Every joint is to contribute to the strengthening of the body so that we are not blown around by every wind of doctrine but find ourselves in unwavering maturity in Christ (Eph. 4:12–16). The “one another” verses of the Bible call Christians to exhort, teach, and encourage one another to love and good deeds as we gather together. They call us to pray for each other and confess sin to each other. They call us to forgive and love each other. Certainly, such fellowship can and should occur in any regular gathering, but how helpful is it when we rehearse these commitments for one another when we meet as members!
Many Christians have historically written down these mutual commitments in their church covenants. My church rehearses ours out loud together as a corporate reminder of our mutual devotion to each other. A members meeting is the perfect opportunity for such a reminder. Reciting our covenant together rehearses our commitment to each other and creates an atmosphere in which every other agenda item breathes.
When Peter made his true confession of Christ as a true confessor in Christ, Jesus told Peter that he would be given “the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19).
Later in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus exhorted his followers that if a fellow confessor persists in unrepentant sin after multiple calls for change, the collection of true confessors (the church) should be told so that they might seek the reclamation of the wayward confessor. If the church should treat the unrepentant brother or sister as a Gentile or tax collector (a non-confessor), they should know that “whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (Matt. 18:18).
A church has the collective responsibility to bind and loose. Binding is an allusion to removal; loosing refers to receiving those who demonstrate a true confession of Jesus as the Messiah.
Where does a church do all this? Certainly, they must do it when they’re gathered, as both Jesus and Paul affirm (Matt. 18:20; 1 Cor. 5:4). Theoretically, they could do so during a regular Lord’s Day gathering, but it seems prudent to devote this critical responsibility to a members-only meeting.
Acts 6 is often referred to as the genesis of the biblical office of deacon. Might it also be the genesis for affirming and removing leaders? A congregational meeting was called by the primary congregational leaders to address a need for new leaders (Acts 6:1–2). The congregation affirmed the proposal and selected the leaders (6:3, 5). The primary leaders then evaluated and affirmed those whom the congregation selected (6:6). All of this was accomplished as the whole congregation was summoned together for an assembly to accomplish this very purpose (6:2).If Acts 6 is an incipient pattern for the office of deacons, then it also appears to offer an incipient pattern for a gathering of the congregation for the selection (or removal) of leaders.
In my estimation, 1 Corinthians 6:1–11 is a rarely applied passage of Scripture. It assumes a conflict between church members that could be adjudicated secularly but should be handled “before the saints” (6:1). If the saints will be those who comprise a court involved in eschatological judgment of the world, then why would they not be a sufficient court in deciding temporal matters (6:2)? In fact, to have matters settled in a public secular setting is shameful to the church’s witness.
Previous generations of congregational churches avidly applied this passage, but it seems to be rarely enacted today. I admit, many technical questions and requirements about the application of modern law must be considered. But from a biblical perspective, a members meeting is posited in Scripture as a place where disputes can and should be addressed among Christians.
Ephesians 4:11–16 calls pastors and teachers (elders) to prioritize the equipping of the congregation to do the work of service. When every member does what they are equipped to do, they build each other up as the body of Christ. Additionally, Hebrews 10:23–25 calls a congregation to corporately confess what we believe so that we intentionally consider how we could “stimulate one another to love and good deeds,” which happens by “assembling together.” A members meeting is an appropriate venue through which to see both of these passages applied.
During the time, pastors can communicate unique needs of members and instruct the church on how to respond to members stuck in sin. Pastors could also update the church about the budget or needs in the facility. There are so many useful pieces of information that are more fitting for a members meeting.
Matthew 18:15–20 is fundamentally about a congregation’s responsibility to care for members who persist in sin; it is also a reminder that when the congregation meets to consider such issues, prayer should be a priority. In this passage, Jesus assumes that we are asking God the Father to act (18:19).
A congregational meeting isn’t merely a “business meeting,” in which stakeholders decide what they think is best for the corporation. Congregational meetings are those where members understand their God-given responsibility to bring in new members, remove erring members, affirm new leaders, settle disputes, and stimulate one another to love and good deeds.
In other words, to be faithful, a congregation must intentionally seek God in prayer throughout every element of our meetings. We’re not gathered to do our will, but his.
Despite any poor past or present experiences, members meetings can and should offer opportunities for the family of God to build itself up in unity and love. They’re not merely a good idea; they’re needed.
Polity is not the gospel, but it’s an outgrowth of the gospel, given by God to protect and promote the gospel, particularly over time.
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