Pastor’s Column
January 16th, 2025
My dear church family,
What a joy it was last Sunday to welcome Gary, Kelly and Kurt into membership at FPCA. The Sunday was especially encouraging with three visitors, some regular attenders who we hadn’t seen in a while and loads of kids. (Well, for us, six children seems like a full house!)
In addition there were twelve people on Zoom. Five of those were regulars who are on Zoom almost every Sunday. But three visitors came to church virtually as guests of our new members. They came to see this significant event in the life of their friends.
Gary has been worshipping at FPCA since March and the Mueller family since September. All have been faithfully attending services each Sunday and actively involved in the fellowship and ministries of the church, including both Kurt and Gary singing in the choir!
You might wonder, then, why it is such an important event in their lives that friends and family would Zoom in from across the country to share it with them.
An article in the Presbyterian Outlook, written by a PCUSA pastor, examines that question. https://pres-outlook.org/2015/03/why-membership/ I will quote it extensively here:
When asked, “Why should I make the effort to officially join? What’s different when I’m a member?”, the pastor in me wants to say that everything is different! When you make promises to Christ and before the congregation, everything changes. When you strive to live out the challenging membership responsibilities detailed in the Book of Order, your life couldn’t help but be transformed. At the same time, the realist in me also wants to say the main difference is that as a member, you can be asked to serve on session (or as a deacon) and you can vote at congregational meetings. And we get to count you in our annual statistics. That’s it. Otherwise, the expectations and opportunities will basically be the same. …
I know we need some way to account for those who are part of our communities. And I think making promises to be part of a congregation does make an impact. But our church typically presents membership as a head thing, a question to be answered “yes” or “no.” For many people, membership is a heart thing. Being a church member is a commitment made on the drive home from worship when, after a passionate service, a person realizes, “That is my church!” It’s a commitment slowly recognized by the congregation when folks learn each other’s names and exchange invitations to events. Membership becomes clear in times of grief and illness when the people who show up to support you claim you as their church family. …
By refusing to let membership define who is in and who is out, our churches might reflect a new sense of inclusion and welcome. At that point, I might not ask people if they’d like to become a member. Instead, I would ask them how I could help them deepen their membership in the body of Christ and participation in God’s mission in the world. I would still get funny looks. But it would be for much better reasons.
Many people worship at FPCA who are not members, yet are fully involved in the ministry and fully participate as sisters and brothers in Christ. If you asked them whether they are interested in becoming a member, they might give you the “funny look” the author spoke of.
May we always be a congregation who rejoices with those who choose the path of membership and embraces those who choose to worship as members of the universal body of Christ. And, whether you are a member or a friend, please attend the Annual Meeting of the Congregation and Corporation on January 26 in the Parlor. The Deacons will be preparing a particularly hearty snack that day. We will review the past year together and members will be welcome to vote on decisions to be made for 2025.
With thanksgiving for all the bodies in the body of Christ,
Pastor Cindy