Church Membership
A Sample Template for Conducting a Membership Interview
By 9Marks | 04.22.2016Here’s a template to use for new member interviews.
Your Constitution Is a Theological Document
By Greg Gilbert | 9Marks Journal: Confessions, Covenants, and Constitutions: How to Organize Your Church | 03.29.2016A constitution is not just a technocratic document demanded by your state’s tax office, nor a necessary evil for avoiding conflict in a church. It’s a deeply theological and even spiritual document.
Mailbag #34: How to Respond When a Pastor’s Wife Leaves; Pastoring Regular Attenders Who Refuse to Join; Help with Cleaning Up Our Church’s Past Mistakes
By Jonathan Leeman | 03.25.2016—When a pastor’s wife leaves him, can he continue in that position? —How do you pastor a couple who enjoys regularly attending, but refuses to join? —How can I minister to a member of our church, who was hurt by our church 10 years ago and hasn’t been back?
Confessions: Thick or Thin?
By Jonathan Leeman | 9Marks Journal: Confessions, Covenants, and Constitutions: How to Organize Your Church | 03.16.2016A good confession of faith builds a protective doctrinal house around a precious center: the gospel.
On the Thorny Matter of Signatures and Assent
By Brad Wheeler | 9Marks Journal: Confessions, Covenants, and Constitutions: How to Organize Your Church | 03.14.2016Should we risk agitating people by asking them to formally sign something? And what if someone wants to join, but is unsure of a doctrinal matter? Is submission enough, or is agreement necessary?
Can I View My Small Group as My Church?
By Sam Allberry | 03.11.2016Small groups can therefore be a terrific supplement to the gathered life of the church, but they should never be a replacement for it.
Mailbag #33: Job Conflicts with Church; Requiring More than One Gathering; Process for Members Who Leave on Good Terms
By Jonathan Leeman | 03.10.2016What should we do when a job conflicts with church attendance? » Is a church over-reaching when it requires more than one gathering for membership? » What’s the process for when members move and leave on good terms? »
Church Planters, Don’t Wait To Put Your Documents in Place!
By Joel Kurz | 9Marks Journal: Confessions, Covenants, and Constitutions: How to Organize Your Church | 03.01.2016Our church waited three years to put our church documents in order, and we suffered for it.
Mailbag #31: Healthy Membership before Healthy Eldership; Difficult Shepherding Situation; Ordination; Tithing
By Jonathan Leeman | 02.25.2016— Do we first educate our people about elders and deacons and then install them—or do we educate them about meaningful membership and then make meaningful membership part of how we operate? — One of our members refused to come to church because our building and people remind her of past pain. How can we shepherd her well? — What is the biblical view of ordination to the pastorate? — What is your view on tithing concerning New Testament believers?
Mailbag #30: Non-Members Serving in Church; A Prospective Elder Who Doesn’t Regularly Attend; The Problem with Contemporary Christian Music; How Younger Members Can Serve Older Ones
By Jonathan Leeman | 02.18.2016— Is it wise to let non-members serve in behind-the-scenes ministries? What about children and teens who aren’t members but profess to be believers? — Should regular attendance be an implicit qualification for elders? — It appears my church enjoys shallow and theologically suspect songs. What should I do? — What are some ways that a younger church member can positively influence older members with regards to sound doctrine?
Mailbag #29: On “Thin” and “Thick” Statements of Faith; Relationship between Lord’s Supper and Membership; Small Group Leaders Who Aren’t Church Members
By Jonathan Leeman | 02.09.2016— Are there certain doctrinal difference for which you would not allow someone to join your church? — Should those who refuse to join a church refrain from taking the Lord’s Supper? — We’re starting a small group ministry at our church, but one of the leaders refuses to join our church. Should this small group be connected to our church?
Mailbag #25: Thinking through Church Budgets; My Congregation Demands an “Altar Call”; Tricky Membership Situation
By Jonathan Leeman | 12.22.2015— How do you lead a church through thinking through the budget in a way that obeys God? Further, how do you do this in a way that is “above-reproach” when leading the overall church through polity change? — My congregation begs for me to do a weekly “altar call,” but I am opposed to them. What should I do? — An elderly couple with health problems wants to join our church—but they won’t ever be able to attend. What do you think?
Africa, the Prosperity Gospel, and the Problem of Unguarded Churches
By Ken Mbugua | 9Marks Journal: Missions: Adding Wisdom to Zeal | 12.02.2015Missionaries who labor in reached parts of Africa are today faced with a society that has been inoculated against the gospel. So what do we do about it?
Mailbag #22: Thinking Through Pastoral Transitions; Loving Those Who Repeatedly Commit Sexual Sin; Declaring Membership Bankruptcy
By Jonathan Leeman | 11.30.2015— What are some best practices for thinking through pastoral searches? — If someone is repeatedly falling into sexual sin, yet repeatedly professes repentance and sorrow, is there ever an occasion to disbelieve them? — I’ve heard of churches deleting their membership rolls so that they can start over and have a membership that better reflects attendance. What do you think of this practice?
Book Review: How Church Can Change Your Life, by Josh Moody
Review by Josh Manley | 11.20.2015This is a helpful book on the church in our very anti-institutional age.
