Church Membership
This document represents the convictions of the
Church on the matter of Church membership. We
recognize and respect that other local Churches
may hold positions different from this. We
discourage those who are part of the Church from
circulating this manual receklessly. Any questions
or concerns should be directed to the leadership
of the Church. While this is documented with the
best of the current understanding, amendments are
possible if any need arise.
The Church is a local and visible expression of
the universal body of Christ. The purpose of our
existence as a local Church is to glorify God by
living as body of Christ manifested by means of
corporate worship, observance of the Lord's
Supper, prayer, doctrine, fellowship,
evangelisation, and discipleship (Mat 28:20, Acts
2:42, 1 Cor. 16:2). Scripture refers to the body
of Christ as made up of many individual members
(Rom. 12:5). Individuals become members of the
universal body of Christ by fully trusting in the
work of Christ alone for the forgiveness of their
sins and being justified by the blood of Christ.
We also see in the New Testament a call for every
member of the universal body of Christ to come
together with other members as part of a local
expression of the universal Church that gather for
the purposes listed above (Heb. 10:25). This then
establishes a need for every believer in Christ to
also be a member of a local Church.
Every group needs a clear and common understanding
of various aspects of membership. In the context
of a local Church this includes the conditions and
process of membership, and the responsibilities of
members towards the Church and the Church towards
its members. This manual outline what `membership'
in the Church means in practice. It explains the
meaning of membership, the implications of
membership, including responsibilities and
benefits, and the process of becoming a member.
While membership in the Church is the preferred
goal for all who attend, the Church remains open
to receive those who wish to know more about the
Christian faith and the Bible and may not yet be
ready for membership. The use of the term `Church'
in the rest of this manual refers specifically to
the Church as a local expression of the universal
body of Christ unless specifically noted
otherwise. Similarly, the term `membership'
refers only to membership in this Church as a
local expression of the universal body of Christ.
A question that may arise in the context of this
membership policy is why it is needed at the
present time given that many like-minded Churches
including this Church has existed for many years
without such a policy. The leadership through a
process of mutual consultation and prayer have
felt the need to create this policy for the
following reasons:
- Effective functioning of the Church requires
a defined policy on membership as well as other
key matters which provides the clarity needed for
the Church to accomplish its goals.
- Having clearly defined policies for
membership as well as other key aspects of Church
governance will better ensure that the Churches
function smoothly.
- A written policy on membership provides a
clear understanding to all about the nature of
Church membership and especially what are the
expectations from members towards the Church and
vice versa. The Bible is clear that all members of
the body of Christ have duties and
responsibilities they should fulfil within the
local Church.
- A clear policy on membership provides
leadership with clear guidance on how to handle
their responsibilities towards those who are
associated with the Church.
Membership in a Church involves the following key
elements:
- Participating in the life of the Church:
Church membership requires a believer to express
his or her solidarity and like-mindedness with
other believers (Phil. 2:2) and to fulfil his or
her responsibility towards the body of Christ
(Phil. 2:1-5, Gal. 6, 1 Cor. 12:14). The Church
provides avenues for a believer to participate in
the life of the Church and utilize his or her
spiritual gifts to build up the members of the
Church (Eph. 4:15-16). The opportunity to involve
in various ministries of the Church is according
to the gifting and under the oversight of the
leadership who will ensure that the whole Church
is edified by the discharge of responsibility.
This means that all may not have all
responsibilities in equal proportion.
- [] Note: It may be possible that a member of
the Church may have gifting or burden for certain
ministry that may not be shared as the Church. In
such situation, a member is free to exercise
his/her gifting outside the context of this local
Church. The Church expect the member to update the
Church of such ministry and the Church will offer
full prayer support. However, the member should
ensure that such ministry should not affect
membership commitment and that such ministry
pattern should not contradict the doctrinal stand
and testimony of this Church. We term such
ministry as the `Personal ministry' of the member
of the Church.
- Shepherding by Church leadership: Church
membership provides the means for a believer to be
shepherded and provided the nurture and soul-care
needed to grow spiritually (Heb. 13:17, 1 Peter
5:2-3)
- Accountability to Church leadership and to
other believers: Church membership provides the
protection that comes from accountability to
God-ordained Church leadership and to fellow
believers (Heb. 13:17, 1 Peter 5:5-8, 1 Thess.
5:12,13). Accountability is an important aspect in
facilitating spiritual growth and requires
submission to Church discipline when required.
All those who desire are welcome to attend
meetings of the Church. For clearly defining
membership in the Church, those who attend the
Church meetings may be grouped into the following
three categories:
- Members: Those who are disciples of Jesus
Christ, who have been baptized as believers and
affirm the Church statement of faith and have
voluntarily decided to be a member. Membership
represents a commitment to participate in the life
of the Church body. Members display this
commitment by participating regularly in the
meetings of the Church, by actively engaging in
mutual service, fellowship, accountability, and
edification, and by submitting to Church
discipline. The commitment expected from members
is further detailed in the next section.
- [] Note: We believe that one person cannot be
the member of more than one Church and hence, anyone
who wants to be a member of this Church, as far as
possible, should inform the former Church about
becoming a member of this Church and leave the
previous Church membership retaining good
relationship with them. While this is the general
policy, exceptions are possible especially those
coming from like-minded churches. Discuss with the
church leadership in case of any ambiguity.
- Attendees: Those who regularly attend one
or more meetings of the Church but have not
committed as members. This category also includes
those who have not yet trusted in the Lord Jesus
Christ for their salvation. The leadership and
members of the Church will encourage those in this
category to progress towards becoming members.
- Visitors: Those visiting the city and
looking for fellowship temporarily while in this
city or those who are exploring different local
Churches for the purpose of identifying a regular
home Church.
In this context, note that the purpose of the
above classification is not to create distinctions
in interpersonal relationships between those who
attend the Church. All those who choose to be part
of our Church community will be always treated
with love and respect.
Proper functioning of the Church body requires a
commitment towards the Church by all members. All
those who are members of the Church must commit to
the following:
- As a born-again and baptized believer, to
live a holy life, honouring God, seeking to live a
godly life, and fostering a living relationship
with Christ through personal prayer and private
study of the Word.
- As members of the body of Christ, to conduct
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love, eager to
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.
- To regularly participate in corporate
worship along with God's redeemed people partaking
of the Lord's Supper in the assembly of saints.
- To take all possible efforts to not forsake
any Sunday worship. When one is not able to attend
the worship due to health or profession, then to
inform the Church/leadership and as far as
possible in advance. When one is out of station,
to take efforts to attend worship in the
like-minded Churches and inform the same with the
Church.
- To actively participate in ministries of the
Church especially the Sunday worship gathering and
various meetings of the Church including regular
bible study and prayer meetings.
- To take best effort to develop and use the
spiritual gifts for the building up of the Church
and the kingdom, proclaiming the gospel to
unbelievers and encouraging and helping one's
Christian brothers and sisters.
- In all Christian vocations (single, married,
parent, profession, etc), to follow biblical
principles and strive to be an example to the rest
of the Church and to the world outside.
- To take the spiritual support of the Church
on major life decisions such as marriage, career,
etc.
- To accept the biblical authority of the
Church and honouring the leadership of the Church,
receiving their pastoral care and, if one should
become delinquent either in doctrine or life,
submitting to their admonition and discipline.
- To bring to the attention of leadership any
issues regarding themselves or of another member
that needs to be addressed spiritually.
- Being open to discipling by spiritually
mature believers in the Church and be willing to
spend time to disciple other believers who need to
be built up in their faith.
- If at any point of time due to change in
location of stay, or change in convictions, or any
other valid biblical reason, to inform the Church
through its leadership about the desire to leave
the Church retaining good relationship with the
whole Church and to become member of a good
biblical Church in the new location.
At the Church we challenge every member to be
committed to pursuing a life that aligns with
Biblical standards of doctrine and practice. This
is what every Christian is called to do. We
recognize that these are high standards, that
living a godly life is difficult, and that all of
us will fail by varying degrees to completely meet
these standards. We do not expect perfection. When
a person makes a commitment to be a member of the
Church, they indicate a genuine intent to live by
the standards stated above, to strive to
progressively make them a reality in their life
with the help of God and through the prayers and
support of the Church community, to continually
progress on the journey of sanctification, and
when they fail or are falling short, to pursue
confession and true repentance.
Besides playing a spiritual role, the Church also
has a role to play in various temporal and life
events. For the sake of clarity, the following
indicates the extent of support available from the
Church towards to the members, attendees, and
visitors:
- Attend all the regular Church meetings.
- Partake of the Lord's Table (baptized
believers only).
- Pastoral care and spiritual support.
- Attestation by Church leadership of
testimony and character.
- Opportunity to lead ministries according to
the gifting under the oversight of leadership.
- Formal attestation by Church leadership,
commendation letters, membership validation, etc.
- Support for events such as wedding, funeral,
child dedication, etc.
- 1.
- Attend all the regular Church meetings.
- 2.
- Partake of the Lord?s Table (baptized
believers only).
- 3.
- Pastoral care and spiritual support
(selective).
- 4.
- Attestation by Church leadership of
testimony and character (selective).
- Note: Selective implies a case-by-case basis
discerned by the leadership.
- Attend all the regular Church meetings.
- Partake of the Lord's Table (baptized
believers only).
It is the desire of the leadership that all those
who attend the Church become a member. The
membership process will be as follows:
- Any person who has been regularly attending
the Church meetings and has an interest in
membership may approach the leadership and express
the desire to become a member.
- The leadership will meet with the
prospective member to understand their background
and faith and determine if the person is ready to
proceed with membership.
- If the leadership determine that the person
is not ready to proceed with membership, he or she
may continue as an Attendee. The leadership will
continue to work with such to help them move
towards becoming a Member.
- If the leadership determine that the person
may proceed with membership, he or she will be
given the Church Membership Manual containing the
Church Statement of Faith, the Church
Distinctives, and the Church Membership
Application Form. All who desire membership must
affirm their agreement with the Church through
Member Application form by retuning a signed copy.
- Once the prospective member has completed
the above process, he or she will be introduced as
a Member of the Church.
It is understood that all members may not always
fulfil all their responsibilities to the Church.
When a member faces challenges in meeting the
commitments, the leadership of the Church will
handle each situation in a spirit of grace and
gentleness, with the intent to encourage and
restore, recognizing that all, including
leadership, are subject to failure (Gal. 6:1).
Where needed, leadership will meet with members to
discuss areas of concern, understand challenges,
and counsel and encourage fulfilment of
responsibilities as a Church member.
As part of this process, if a member expresses an
unwillingness to remain committed to the
requirements for Church membership, or if the
leadership feel there is no intent to fulfil the
commitments associated with membership, their
status as members may be changed to as an
attendee. As much as possible, any such change
will be made based on a mutual understanding
between the leadership and the member.
There is gross misconception about church
and the need of church membership in the
Christendom. Consider the following:
- Authority and Submission:
Heb. 13:17.
(Obey
your leaders and submit to them, for they are
keeping watch over your souls, as those who will
have to give an account. Let them do this with joy
and not with groaning, for that would be of no
advantage to you) clearly raises two questions:
- As a disciple who is my leader to whom I
obey and submit? Regarding this question, the
Scripture clearly command Christians to submit to
and honor elders of the local church (1 Tim.
5:17). Obeying this command requires a believer to
commit to a local church and her elders.
- As a leader who are all I am responsible
for? Regarding this question, the Scripture
clearly command elders to care for specific people
(1 Pet. 5:1-5; Acts 20:29-30).
- Church discipline.
1 Cor. 5:11.
But now I am
writing to you not to associate with anyone who
bears the name of brother if he is guilty of
sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater,
reviler, drunkard, or swindler? not even to eat
with such a one. For what have I to do with
judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the
church whom you are to judge?. Obeying the
commands given in the context of church discipline
clearly necessitates local commitment to a
covenant community of faith expressed through
church membership.
- Indirect indications: The first century
church had clear understanding of church
membership as evident from the following passages:
- Acts 2:37-47 that there is a numerical
record of those who believed (v. 41) and the
church was tracking the growth (v. 47).
- Acts 6:1-6, we see elections take place in
order to address a specific problem implies they
know who belong to them.
- Rom. 16:1-16, we see what appears to be an
awareness of who is a church member.
- 1 Tim. 5:3-16, we see a clear teaching on
how to handle widows in the church and in verses
9-13 we read this.
- 1 Cor. 12. Obedience to the exhortations of
this chapter requires commitment to a covenant
community of faith.
- Rom. 12 (12:3 For I say to everyone who is
among you). Obedience to the exhortations of this
chapter requires commitment to a covenant
community of faith. E.g., love one another, give
preference to one another, etc.
- Church attendance is not merely an
obligation till we reach heaven but is the
divinely designed institution meant for our own
protection and maturation, and for the good of
others.
- Growing in a biblical holiness possible only
with active interaction with others in my own
local body; my own slothfulness in zeal is
exposed, as is my lack of patience, my
prayerlessness, and my hesitancy to associate with
the lowly etc.
- Yet this interaction also gives me the
opportunity to be lovingly confronted by brothers
and sisters who also struggle in faith like me, as
well as a safe place to confess and repent.
- But when church is just a place you attend
without ever committing, examine whether you are
always leaving the church whenever your heart
begins to be exposed by the Holy Spirit, and the
real work of sanctification is beginning to
happen.
- Summarizing, local church membership is a
question of biblical obedience, not personal
preference.
- Jesus established the local church, and all
the apostles did their ministry through it. The
Christian life in the New Testament is church
life. Christians today should expect and desire
the same.
- The church is its members. To be a `church'
in the New Testament, especially in Acts, is to be
one of its members.
- It is a pre-requisite for the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper is a meal for the gathered
church, that is, for members (1 Cor. 11:20, 33).
- Membership is the church's affirmation that
you are a citizen of Christ's kingdom and an
authorized representative of Jesus before the
nations.
- It is how to declare one's highest
allegiance. Your membership in the local church is
practiced in letter and spirit becomes a public
testimony that your highest allegiance belongs to
Jesus and his church. Trials and persecution may
come, but your only words are, I am with Jesus
and his church.
- All the biblical images of church such as
`body of Christ', the `temple of the Spirit', the
`family of God', and `army of the Lord'
involves the concept of accountability and
commitment to the Lord expressed through a local
church.
- Membership helps you to know which
Christians on planet Earth you are specifically
responsible to love, serve, warn, and encourage.
It enables you to fulfill your biblical
responsibilities to Christ's body (for example,
see Eph. 4:11-16; 25-32).
- Membership helps you to know which Christian
leaders on planet Earth you are called to obey and
follow. Again, it allows you to fulfill your
biblical responsibility to them (see Heb. 13:7;
17).
- Membership lets Christian leaders know which
Christians on Planet Earth they will give an
account for (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).
- Membership gives you the biblically
prescribed place to participate in the work of
church discipline responsibly, wisely, and
lovingly (1 Cor. 5).
- Membership places an individual Christian's
claim to `obey' and `follow' Jesus into a
real-life setting where authority is exercised
over us (see John 14:15; 1 John 2:19; 4:20-21).
- Membership puts the alternative rule of
Christ on display for the watching universe (see
Matt. 5:13; John 13:34-35; Eph. 3:10; 1 Peter
2:9-12). The very boundaries which are drawn
around the membership of a church yields a society
of people which invites the nations to something
better.
- Membership helps to commit yourself to love
and serve others by means of encouragement,
rebuke, prayer, and ministry of the Word.
- Membership helps you to receive love and
help from an entire group of Christians who have
now publicly committed to watch over you
spiritually.
- Membership helps you to receive pastoral
care from the leadership of that local church who
are accountable to God and who will care for you,
pray for you, and personally counsel and teach
you.
- Membership serves as godly deterrent against
serious sins through church discipline. This is an
immense comfort and encouragement to those of us
who know the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:12).
- While membership in a church doesn't
guarantee that someone is a Christian, it should
assure believers of the genuineness of their
faith.
Joining a local church is an important decision.
Leadership therefore has the responsibility to
properly teach and shepherd the prospective
members.
- Membership classes should ensure that
members understand and articulate the gospel
clearly.
- Membership classes should also ensure they
understand the biblical pattern of a local church
including essential doctrines, functioning of the
local church and including church governance.
- Membership classes help to equip people into
serving the local church including the spiritual
gifts and opportunities to serve the Lord through
the local church.
- Membership classes help a member to
understand what the church expects from its member
and what happens if members do not live up to it
consistently and deliberately thus preempt
potential church discipline issues.
The writers of the New Testament always assumed
that the local churches to whom they were writing
had a clear understanding of who was a member of
the church and who was not (1 Cor. 5:2;
Col. 4:5; Gal. 6:10). Church membership
classes are one of the most effective ways to
examine, assimilate, and clearly demarcate new
members into a church family.
- Can a member lose their membership?
All members are expected to fulfil the
responsibilities listed in this manual. However,
the leadership recognize that this can be
challenging. When a member is not fulfilling the
responsibilities, the leadership of the Church
will always operate with grace and encourage and
counsel the member towards positive change.
However, if over a period the member does not show
any inclination or interest to fulfil the
responsibilities of a member, loss of membership
could occur.
- How will those who are part of the Church
Community know who are members and who are not?
The leadership will maintain a membership list
that will be available to all. Regardless of
membership status, all those who choose to be part
of the Church community should be always treated
with love and respect. The goal of those who are
members will be to encourage all to move forward
on a journey towards membership.
- Does membership apply to individuals or to
entire families? Are children considered Members?
Membership applies separately to an individual.
Within a family, husband and wife will be
considered for membership as individuals. As such,
it is possible for one spouse to be a Member and
the other to be an Attendee. Minor children of a
member will receive benefits (e.g., participation
in Sunday School) as children of a member. A child
of a member who is saved and baptized will be
considered as a member after going through the
process outlined in this manual.
- Can a person continue indefinitely as an
Attendee?
Becoming a member is a voluntary choice of each
person. The leadership desire for all who are part
of the Church community to progress towards
membership. All who are part of the Church
community, whether a member or an attendee, are
expected not to engage in activities that damage
the testimony of the Church and the Lord Jesus
Christ. If a person is not having a negative
impact on the Church or its testimony, they may
continue as an Attendee.
- Does a member have to subscribe to every
tenet of the Church Statement of Faith?
The Church Statement of Faith represents the core
belief and doctrines of the Church and will be
taught and practiced in the Church. In cases where
someone has doubts or divergent opinions on a
specific area of the Church Statement of Faith,
they must bring these up to the leadership for
evaluation and discussion. The leadership will
determine if and how such divergences should
impact membership. In cases where someone with a
specific divergent opinion is allowed into
membership, they will be required to avoid
teaching or influencing others in a way that
deviates from the Church Statement of Faith.
- How about those already considered
themselves as members?
As this membership policy and process is being
introduced into an existing setup, we will go
through a process of asking those currently
attending the Church to consent to the Church
member commitment. If anyone does not meet the
criteria for membership, then the leadership will
inform them, and they will be considered as
Attendees. All those newly coming into the Church
after the introduction of this membership policy
and process will be assessed for membership as per
the process described above. A list of Church
members will be maintained and made available to
all members.
The next section covers the convictions, ministry pattern, and
distinctiveness of this Church.
The next section is followed by the statement of faith related to major doctrinal positions.
Compiled by tfrdn7@gmail.com on 2026-04-14 13:09 for the glory of the Lord