Dear New Members (OK, those who consider themselves “old” are included as well).
I needed to add that additional comment or I think some of you (who have been members of your church for years and years) would think this “Faithful Fridays” posting was not for you. I hope you’d know by this time that I work really hard to bring members together and treat all alike without regard to the length of their membership. In fact, I expect you’ve heard that we treat visitors (or “guests” if you’d prefer) the same way we treat members. About a third of our pastoral care visits each week are to people who are not members of our church. If you know someone in need, member or not, let us know and we will provide care (the care of Christ).
So to a certain extent my salutation above is odd for a mailing like this. However, it relates to the “indispensable rule” that I’ll be considering today. The title of the chapter (from the book, “What Every Pastor Should Know; 101 Indispensable Rules of Thumb for Leading Your Church”) is rule number 25: “One hundred percent of your new members should participate in your new member orientation class.” This might be group meetings or individual meetings with each family, but we need a time to share the spirit and vision of the congregation and the part they can play in their new church.
What amazing memories I have over the fifty-one years of my ministry, and, to be honest, the formative years were those in the smallest of my three congregations. I began pastoral ministry in 1975 in a very small congregation in Brooklyn, New York. Though it had been nearly 900 members (almost all German immigrants) “in the day,” by the time I arrived, there were 45 members left with a budget of $11,000 a year. Let me just say that things were “tight” financially for the church and for me as their called pastor. (I have reflected on my attitudes toward spending money at church and realize that although I’ve left Brooklyn, Brooklyn hasn’t left me. You only get to spend a dollar once, donated by dedicated disciples, so you ought to spend it only where you can’t do something yourself – just good stewardship. “But,” as they say, “I digress”).
The issue for the new member issue we’re considering? There was actually no formal membership role anywhere that I could find. In fact what I did find was some 3 x 5 cards in the pastor’s desk with names, addresses and phone numbers. I started calling and introducing myself as the new pastor and asking them their connection to the church. One was the mailman. Some were repair people and some had been to the church once in a while and some thought they might be members. So, I thought it would be good to identify who the members were. I put out an invitation simply stating, “If you’re a member, or think you’re a member or want to be a member, please come to the following Member orientation classes.” You may note that there were classes not just “a class.” In fact there were 23 hours of classes (over 23 weeks of meetings). God bless those people that they didn’t “run me out of the church.” Can you imagine being a life long Lutheran and perhaps a life long member of a congregation and having some young “whippersnapper” of a pastor have the nerve to do that? 23 hours!!!
But I’d have to say that what I learned from doing that (and I never did it again) was that 23 hours was just too short. In fact, the reflection on what it means to be a member is a life-long process. When you stop considering what your membership means the results are not good (as indicated by the decrease in membership in my church in Brooklyn). Martin Luther connected membership and discipleship and our baptisms. He suggested we remind ourselves of our membership in the body of Christ;
In the morning, when you rise, you shall make the sign of the holy cross, and you shall say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then, kneeling or standing, you shall say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.
And in the fourth section about baptism, Luther rhetorically asks what baptism with water signifies:
It signifies that the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts, and, again, a new man daily come forth and arise; who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
I know that the suggestion that every “new” member should attend (and reflect on) the meaning of membership/discipleship is good, but that MUST be a daily event. I was serious when I said that when I reached the end of the 23rd hours of classes (back in Brooklyn), we had just scratched the surface. As a “good” Missouri Synod pastor, I was making sure they had some theological grounding and agreement, but after I had eight years of theological education, how did I think they would be able to get it all in 23 hours of classes. The process is, of course, or should be, life long. If we’re not growing, we’re dying. If we’re dying we’re wandering away for the One who is the Way, Truth and Life and who offers us an abundant (John 10:10) and eternal life.
So, “Yes,” new members should attend a new member orientation class. It is an opportunity for the pastor to explain the nature and core principles of that particular church. I have smiled over the decades as I have heard pastors say, “My church is unique.” In reality, every church is unique with different members and foci and principles that are (hopefully) fulfilling the mandate given to us by Christ. Any activities or policies that contradict the Word of the Lord or the Way of the Lord, is to be rejected. So the gift of new members is that we share our perspectives and they may question (either out loud with a question or silently with an “odd smile” or a raised eyebrow). We pastors get the chance to explain and defend and encourage participation in the mission and ministries of the congregation. If we can’t explain them to the new members, we probably don’t understand them ourselves.
But that’s why the instruction of new members (and old ones, at that) continues from the pulpit and in bulletins and Bible study and ministry group gatherings. It is what we get to do as pastors/preachers; we interpret the mission given us by Christ into the life of our congregations today. All of us disciples (newly connected to a congregation or having connected years ago) ought to daily reflect on our discipleship and what we do each day that reflects that baptismal discipleship.
Blessings on your service today and this week. “See you” next week, same time, same place as we continue considering what it means to be “faith full”.
Peace in His service,
Pastor Johnson