Tag: Church Membership

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Lord's Day Liturgy

We Are Regulars Here

The unbelieving world has no definite standard, no supreme source, no consistent method, no reliable mirror for determining identity. Some lies sound more plausible, some uniforms look more popular, some complaints feel more cathartic, at least temporarily. The world has a mold (Romans 12:2), and the father of lies has offspring (John 8:44), but the template of hell is confusion, exile, and discontent.

Our Father gives us comfort, peace, and rejoicing. He tells us who we are, shows us in Christ what we will be (1 John 3:2), and seals us with His own Spirit as a guarantee of our eternal inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14).

As a church we affirm identity in the waters of baptism, around the table of communion, and through the process of membership. Baptism is the initial ordinance of identify professed and affirmed, communion is an ongoing ordinance of identity by obedience, and membership takes over the responsibility of affirming identity from another local church.

When it comes to membership, a local church must remember that she is part of the universal church. A local church must also affirm those into membership who call on the Lord’s name and are part of the kingdom of Christ and God. A local church must affirm the identity of her members through shepherding and discipling and discipline. The church also comes together to the Supper; we are regulars here.

As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim that you are the people waiting for and hastening the day of the Lord’s return (1 Corinthians 11:26; 2 Peter 3:12).

Categories
Lord's Day Liturgy

Open Communion, Closed Membership

We love celebrating weekly communion at our church, and it is having multiple desired effects. It proclaims the Lord’s death (1 Corinthians 11:26). It unites the body as we participate in the blood and body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16). It encourages us to keep short accounts (1 Corinthians 11:28). And it makes people ask questions, including our kids, who wonder when they will get to share in communion.

This is a feature, it doesn’t have to be a frustration. Just as the liturgy of various offerings in the Old Testament provided opportunities for parents to tell their kids about God’s redeeming work, so we want our liturgy to cause others to want it, especially our kids. If we had to choose between abusing the Table by making them dread it due to our anxiousness, or abusing the Table by making them desire it due to our joyfulness, is that hard to answer?

One question that is a bit harder, at least on a personal level, is, Who is welcome at the Table? We practice what has historically been called “open” communion. That means that you do not need to be a member of our local body to be invited to eat and drink. You do need to believe in Christ, and, in most cases, you should already be baptized in public identification with Christ. We typically discourage parents from having their young people partake until they’ve been baptized.

One additional challenge for us involves those who sincerely believe that infant baptism is a valid expression of the ordinance. As a church we do not believe that, and so we have what is called “closed” membership. We believe (in brief) that “disciples obey the Lord in baptism” and so, as a credo-baptist church, we do not affirm paedo-baptized members.

But, desiring to be charitable to those who profess with both lips and lives their belief in and love for Christ, we will encourage them to partake at the open Table though we won’t affirm them as official members. This is a compromise we are comfortable with. Currently, the most significant limitation is that such a person could not hold a church office (that is, be an elder or deacon), though in every other way they would receive the care of the shepherds.

We gladly welcome the Lord’s disciples to the Lord’s Table, even when we believe there is more to teach them to observe that He’s commanded, which is, of course, true for all of us in some way or another this side of glorification.