by Dan Reiland

The Pastor’s Coach

Membership has its privileges, but not in the local church. If you buy a membership to a gym or golf club or buy season tickets for your favorite NFL team – the price you pay buys you perks and privileges. The local church is the opposite. Membership means surrendering your privileges. Instead of getting preferred parking, you park in the back lot and walk. Rather than getting the better seating, you give up your seat if there is no room for the “non-members.” Bottom line — in contrast to being served you serve.

I’m fan of local church membership – but not like you might think. While I encourage all to join, it’s not about a drive for new members. If regular attenders don’t pursue membership, I don’t lose sleep over it. My passion is about making sure the leaders are members. It’s all about heart. If a leader says they want to lead, but they don’t want to be on the team, I have questions about that. The answers may be good answers, but I still have questions. If nothing else, it opens the door to healthy conversations so we can know our leaders better.

For example, I recently met with a leader in the church who had never become a member. I asked him about it and the answer was simple. He was a retired minister from another denomination and if he joined, he would forfeit his retirement funds. I won’t tell you what I think of that concept, but I immediately told him not to worry about joining! “Just lead on and we’re glad you’re here!!”

Another example, however, revealed the opposite. I spoke with a guy who is currently leading and asked why he’d never joined. He began to beat around the bush and eventually said he didn’t like where the church was headed and was upset with why the church hadn’t adopted a certain ministry he was passionate about. This opened the door to a candid and productive conversation regarding mission, attitude, fear of speaking up, personal agendas, humility, team ball, and more. And by the way, it was a two-way conversation. As a leader, I must always seek to understand what I may not see clearly. The conversation went well, and while he hasn’t joined yet, we have an open understanding and ongoing communication. Not all talks go well or end well, but you should always have these intentional conversations with your leaders.

Candid conversations with leaders don’t have to be based membership. But if membership is a tool in your church, or a question, why not leverage it to something of maximum meaning?

Before I offer a few thoughts on leveraging membership to maximum value, let me give you three “myths about membership.”

Myths about membership:

Myth # 1 — People care about membership.

They don’t. It’s not a priority, and for most people, it never crosses their mind. There may be a few loyal denominationalists in your church, and that’s good, but don’t think that’s the dominate thought amongst your people. This doesn’t mean membership is meaningless any more than the sacraments are meaningless, (your people don’t have daily thoughts about baptism and communion either) it’s all about how you use membership for the good of the people and the good of the church.

Myth # 2 — Once a member, they remain content and committed.

Ok, now you’re smiling with me. You know this isn’t true. Membership is not a substitute for leadership. As a pastor or church leader, you need to keep inspiring, leading, encouraging, and communicating or even the best members can lose sight of the vision and walk away.

Myth # 3 — Membership is a contract

Membership is a relationship, not a contract. You may have your members sign a document. That’s good for clarity, but don’t confuse that with covenant. The heart doesn’t need paper. You can’t make people join and you can’t force members to be faithful. They must want to, and once again, your leadership is a huge influence on which way that goes.

Meaning within membership:

As a leader, there are a number of important of elements you will want to cover in the class, small group, dinner, seminar or whatever environment works best for you. All of which are more important than your actual membership content. Let me give you five of these elements.

* Inspire spiritual and relational integrity

You can’t manufacture spirituality, nor can you legislate relationship. You can, however, inspire people to pursue God and deepen their heart connection with others in the church. Your vision, values, mission and doctrine (etc) are all important, but quickly lose their value if the people lose sight of God and are not experiencing genuine and meaningful community with each other.

Take the opportunity in a membership class to inspire the people toward their first love, God, and their second love, others. Tell stories of passion for Jesus, perhaps even share some of your own. This is real “membership” – love for God! On the relational side of the equation, I love talking about the fact that to some degree each person in the room has felt embraced, accepted and loved by the church. If that wasn’t true, they wouldn’t be there. I get a little cheesy and say: “In a sense, you have been `hugged’ by the church, and now, as a member, we’re asking you to hug back.” A bit corny, but it lands. People understand giving and getting a hug. . . it’s warm and personal, and the absence of a hug or the lack of desire to “hug” someone is telling. * Re-envision the purpose and “why” of church

This is a great opportunity to cast vision for your purpose. Speak compellingly from the heart about “why” you do and don’t do church. Bottom line, it’s about reaching the lost and changing lives, not 37 programs! Structure, government, and membership policies all have their place, but you can print that and cover it quickly. Spend your time communicating what really matters – the core purpose of your church. Remind them in an upbeat way that church begins when the worship service is over. That real church happens outside the four walls of the worship center. We celebrate the church (God) when we meet on Sunday, but the church goes into action the rest of the week. * Encourage and Empower

In many ways, this is the core of the class. Beware of a membership built on “don’ts”. The Bible is clear on what God doesn’t want, but majoring on that list during a membership class is not a wise choice. Some denominations require such lists, and if so, then honor the team you are on. But don’t camp there. Focus on the freedoms and opportunities in Christ that are discovered and experienced in a local church. Invest your time on the things that encourage growth not the things that control behavior.

Ministry is a great example. Members don’t have to do ministry, they get to! They are not assigned to a task, but empowered to find joy and meaning in a volunteer role of their choice! I love telling stories about our parking lot team, tech team, children’s team, small group team and others. I tell stories of people who love doing what they do and you couldn’t stop them if you tried.

Encourage them in their faith and paint a grand picture of their potential. I love teaching a 20 minute section on church history. Yes, I said church history! The sole reason is for the last two minutes. I have a blank on the history chart for their name and tell them that they have a significant role to be played out in Christian history. So up on the wall along side Martin Luther, John Wesley and others, they see their name! They are able and free make a difference! * Champion reverse accountability

The idea of holding someone accountable is an interesting concept. There is value in that process, but the only way someone is truly accountable is if they want to be. So I champion what I call reverse accountability – which is maturity. The more mature someone is, the less accountability they need. Don’t misunderstand, we all need community, and must all be asked tough questions, but this is different than a hand-holding process that often doesn’t work.

For example, we want people to be baptized, (if they haven’t been), as part of the membership process. We don’t, however, call and chase them about getting baptized before they are a member. (We do “call and chase new believers.) They can join simply by telling us they will get baptized as soon as they can. This is all about trust and maturity. You might think it na ¯ve, but when we trust them for it, they do. When we push, they resist. The same idea holds true for getting in a small group. We ask all members to commit to a small group, but we don’t police it. We encourage, guide, and cheer them on, and that works. “Telling” someone to get in a group because it’s a membership requirement just doesn’t work. * Express gratitude and celebrate progress

Thank the people throughout your time with them in the membership class. Thank them for trusting you with their faith. Thank them for their generous support of God purpose in your church. Thank them for serving. Thank them for loving God and loving others. Thank them, thank them, thank them.

Cheer them on for what they have done, are doing, and will do, don’t belabor what they are not doing. What I mean by this is simply to celebrate their progress. Let them know that God wants them to move forward in their spiritual growth and that you are wholly dedicated as a church to do what you can to help them. Let them know that you want them to live a grand life, a life dependent upon God, and interdependent with others — a life full of joy and meaning and productivity. Let them know that you believe that the church can help them live better, and they in turn can help others live better – all because of Christ in and through their lives.

There is so much more you can do with a membership class, but I hope what I’ve written encourages you to make the most of your time and theirs.