No more Members


Scott Williams posts over at the Swerve.tv Blog.

Should we get rid of church members and begin to develop ministry partners?

member – a person, animal, plant group, etc., that is part of a society, party, community, taxon, or other body.

partner – a person who shares or is associated with another in some action or endeavor; associate; a husband or a wife; spouse.

Ministries around the country are evolving, changing, becoming more relevant. It’s time to get rid of the dated idea of having church members and instead develop ministry partners.

Love it!

Every person/family/teen/kids needs to realise that they don’t just attend church but in attending they are choosing to partner with us in seeing the vision of the community go forward!

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August 19th, 2007
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Glen Woods
Posted on:
August 19, 2007 at 10:21 pm

What if we maintained the language of “membership” for legal purposes and then used the language of ministry partnership for communication purposes?

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Johnny E!
Posted on:
August 19, 2007 at 10:48 pm

Why? What leagal reasons are there? Why not just change the name all together. We want people to be apart of our ministry, with out people there is no ministry. Partners is a word that helps bring that vision together, that you are going to have to work to get something done. Membership makes one feel that someone else is getting paid to do something, like the dishes, I can throw my money at it and somene will get it done for me. We must stop coddling people in minstry and start challenging them to serve and be leaders.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Glen Woods
Posted on:
August 19, 2007 at 11:11 pm

Johnny E,

I don’t believe we have had the privilege of meeting. Thanks so much for sharing your opinion about my question. I appreciate your thoughtfulness!

Blessings,

Glen Woods

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Dave Wakerley
Posted on:
August 20, 2007 at 2:37 am

I guess it will vary from congregation/denomination. Some really emphasise membership…

I think it is the attitude and expectations of the person becoming a part of church that will make the difference. A change in language would really help them realise that their expectations may be different to the church they are ‘joining’.

Dave

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Glen Woods
Posted on:
August 20, 2007 at 8:56 am

Thanks Dave. By the way, I agree with your post and your comment. I also would agree that helping people feel a part of what is going on by creating an ethos where everyone is challenged to serve is a positive thing, especially in our consumerist society.

Having been a elder board member in the past, I can imagine there also would be discussion about the language of bylaws, what it would take to revise them in order to accomodate new language, and how that affects who can vote, and so on. I guess the practical aspect of that is what prompted my question. I certainly wasn’t trying to be disagreeable. :)

Blessings,

Glen Woods

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Kristin Evans
Posted on:
August 20, 2007 at 11:04 am

We have “members” but really it is until those people are “partners” - serving somewhere - that we really feel people are a part of the vision. And I think that is so true for the people serving. We are all about building God’s kingdom, not belonging to the right club. I’m in agreement of doing away with the “member” mentality. If we would all have this mentality - that church is NOT about me, but about God and what He wants to do in the hearts of people that day. How far would the church! It would be an unstoppable force!

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
Johnny E!
Posted on:
August 20, 2007 at 12:00 pm

Thanks Glen, good to meet you too. Love your responses! THanks too to you Dave for the forum on this!

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
Scott Williams
Posted on:
August 20, 2007 at 6:49 pm

Dave, thanks to you and others on your blog for the feedback and ping to the blog I posted on Swerve. The change in language is the beginning of a long-term mindset shift. It is the same as Disney referring to their employees as Cast, it creates ownership in being part of the show.