Why Do We Have Membership?
In the Bible, churches are expected to understand who is part of that local church and who is not. For example, church leaders were able to keep a “list” of widows, for whom the church ought to have particular care (1 Tim. 5); in another place, a person is excluded from church fellowship as a measure of discipline so that they learn to repent (1 Cor 5); elsewhere a church is told to reinstate someone (2 Cor. 2). There is a difference and a clarity between being part of a particular church family, and not being part of that church family.
We can outline three reasons why membership is important in church life:
1. OUR RESPONSIBILITY
When church leaders are told to “shepherd the flock”, they need to know who is in their flock and who is not. Membership is a way of identifying who are particularly under our responsibility as leaders, and as a wider church family. Of course, we want to care for everyone who comes our way, but we have a particular responsibility to care for the material and spiritual needs of those in this particular church family.
If you become a member, the elders have promised to regularly pray for you!
2. YOUR GROWTH
We grow as disciples of Jesus as we let others help us think through how discipleship works out in every area of our lives. This often means having conversations that let the Bible challenge our feelings, our priorities, our ambitions, our relationships, our finances, our family, and everything else. We recognise that we would be overstepping to start up these conversations with someone who hasn’t given us permission to do so. Membership creates a safe context to help one another grow in radical discipleship. Members are asked to give financially — privately and according to their means — to the church, to engage in this relational discipleship (e.g. in Connect Groups), to serve the ministry of the wider church (e.g. on a Sunday team), and commit to private and corporate prayer for our church and our city.
3. YOUR SAY
Because we are an independent congregational church, we need a defined group of people (i.e. Members) to make decisions about appointing elders and trustees, about our finances, and about major decisions in the life of the church (such as where we meet). We have regular Members’ Meetings where we discuss various aspects of how the church is run, and members are part of the discussion. We don’t believe any one person is anointed by God to dictate how our church is run (except Jesus!), so we need the varied experiences, expertise and opinions of all our members to help us work out how we can be the “church for the city, loving the whole world” that we want to be.
If this vision excites you, then beoming a member is a great way to serve!
Who Can Become A Member?
Anybody who has been part of our church for at least 6 months. and who wants to commit to being part of our church family can become a member. It makes sense if the plan is to remain at our church for at least a further 6 months once you become a member.
A person must be a Christian to become a member. What we believe is in our Statement of Faith, and we ask everyone who wants to be a member to agree to this.
We recognise that genuine Christians hold different views about certain aspects of theology or church life. We don’t want this to be a barrier to membership, although we as a church do have settled views on various questions of Christian life and belief. For this reason, we ask everybody who wishes to become a member to respect the beliefs outlines in our Doctrinal Distinctives statement — even if they believe something a bit different.
You can find both of these statements below...
How Do I Become a Member?
It’s a good idea to get to know us, and for us to get to know you as we think about membership.
This usually means joining us for a few weeks and getting involved in church life first, but once you’re settled, it’s a great idea to think about membership next.
1. The first step to membership is to complete the Plugged In course online. The course introduces how our six Church Values shape the ethos. and practices of life at Christ Church Liverpool. Hopefully you’ll learn what’s in our “DNA”.
2. Plugged In ends with a discussion, usually in a group, with a church leader. This is a place to discuss anything raised in the Plugged In course, to ask any questions you have, to clarify what memberhsip is, and it’s our opportunity to get to know you a bit better.
There is no obligation to go ahead with becoming a member just because you’ve done Plugged In — but if you’re sticking around then it’s important to consider why you won’t commit yourself to other Christians
3. We then arrange a time for an informal interview with one of the church leader. While “interview” sounds daunting to some, it’s not an examination! It’s a chance for us to hear your story, to understand your journey of faith, and to see how you’re getting on in church life. Nobody “fails” an interview, but it might bring up certain area of life that might not be consistent with living as a formal member of Christ Church, and it helps us to know how best we can care for you should you become a member.
4. After the interview, the elders decide to recommend a person to the members at the next Members’ Meeting, and the members vote a person into membership.
What's next?
If you’re ready to get started, you can find the details of the next Plugged In session and a link to sign up below. If you have any specific questions, then speak to a church elder, staff member, or email Josh, who oversees the membership process.
Plugged In
Plugged In is a series of 7 short videos and an event to help you understand the beliefs and convictions which shape our church values, culture and practice. The videos are all between 13 and 18 minutes long (except one which is shorter).
When you sign up to Plugged In you'll receive a confirmation email containing links to the seven videos that you must watch before the meet-up discussion. We recommend that you set aside time to watch each one uninterrupted, and make notes and jot down questions if you'll find that helpful.
The Plugged In discussion takes place later, is around an hour, and is either in person or online. It happens a few times each year. The link below has the next date for the discussion.
We are flexible to make individual arrangements if you can't make the date below.