Introduction
We live in a culture where committing to something isn’t easy. That makes church membership more difficult than it used to be. It also makes it even more important.
Believers in Western countries now face a strange mixture of apathy and antagonism toward the gospel. Many of our neighbours view Christianity not only as yesterday’s news, but also as a major the source of today’s problems.
A church is a community of people from different backgrounds, united in Christ, caring for each other, and working together for the wider community and the glory of God. That is a beautiful, powerful and compelling thing. It brings the gospel to life, makes visible the grace of God, and models the world that will one day be.
The big idea of church membership is pretty simple. It is a way to say . . .
- I am a Christian.
- I want to see God’s kingdom come.
- This church is my spiritual home.
- Together we are committed to Christ, at this particular time, and in this particular place.
Our forefathers used to talk of believers covenanting together ‘to walk with God and with each other’ as they formed or joined a local church. It isn’t just a name on a list. It is a full time calling.
Grangetown Baptist Church
God has placed us in an amazing place surrounded by people from many nations. We have something our community desperately needs and a calling to share it. We want to be razor sharp and crystal clear in our grasp of the gospel, but we also want to have a gospel culture in our church that is deep and rich.
That means we want to be a genuine fellowship where we love, forgive and support one another, praying for each as brothers and sisters in Christ.
It also means that we want to love and serve the people of our community whatever they believe, however they choose to live, and whatever they might think of us. We need to open the door wide.
We want to be a church where those who do not believe, and those unsure of what they believe, are present, welcomed and honoured. We want them to find that their questions are invited, their doubts and beliefs are respected, and their objections to the Christian Faith are anticipated and understood.
We want to be a community where people can find space to process their beliefs among friends who accept them as equals, know how hard faith can be, and remember what it was like not to believe.
We want to be secure in our own beliefs, clear in the way we testify to them, and yet humble in the way we hold them and in the way we relate to others.
In previous decades, non-Christians in Western nations knew enough about God, sin and salvation to connect the dots as we testified to Christ. Now, however, these dots make no sense at all. We need to be a church with a wide-open front door, where our neighbours can connect the dots by meeting a compelling and attractive community that live sout the message we preach in everyday life.
To become a member of Grangetown Baptist Church is to buy into these things.
The members are the most important people
Even as we make the church a more hospitable place for sceptics and doubters, we must go to them—in their neighbourhoods, in schools, and in our places of work.
Every growing church needs healthy preaching, wise leadership and helpful outreach programmes. But the most significant need is always ‘every-member gospel ministry’.
This happens when the individual members of the church are active in prayerfully living out their faith among their friends, family, colleagues, customers and community. No one can organise this. It happens spontaneously outside the organised programmes of the church and flows naturally through informal, personal relationships.
It is also a very powerful thing. If just 15-30% of a congregation are engaged in this kind of organic, relational, gospel ministry, it creates a powerful dynamism that infuses the whole church. Becoming a member means being willing to give this a go.
Here are some practical ways to help us move in this direction:
- Always be transparent about your own experiences of faith and church.
- Be interested and ask about other people’s beliefs and experiences. Listen appreciatively and sympathetically.
- Be willing to share how your faith helps you in life’s challenges – giving you strength or freeing you to forgive.
- Offer to pray regularly for a friend, neighbour, or colleague who is facing a challenging situation.
- Be ready to share some aspect of your own spiritual story.
- Share the Christian books or talks you have found helpful. Offer to discuss them.
- Mix up believers and unbelievers in your social gatherings and activities.
- When interest is shown a good next step is to offer to read a part of the Bible together.
- Invite friends to outreach events where they hear the gospel explained.
- When the opportunity arises be bold to share the basics of the Christian faith with your friends. Lay out how to become a Christian and invite them to make a commitment.
We want to put a special emphasis on the importance of work, whether paid or unpaid. This is the environment where we spend most of our time, face most of our problems, will grow in sanctification (or not), and have opportunity to be a blessing to people. We believe God is deeply interested and engaged in our work and that we need to see it as a calling from him to serve the people around us.
How the church works
Acts 2.42-47 is an important passage. It describes a Spirit-filled church as a fellowship of saved sinners where there is a deep commitment to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. It describes a real and living community where believers are meeting every day both in the temple courts and in their homes, eating together with glad and sincere hearts. It describes a worshipping community that is praising God, and points out that they enjoyed the favour of all the people and that the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. This is the vision of the church that we are pursuing.
We have three core meetings every week. Sunday morning is focussed on outreach. The aim of the sermon on Sunday mornings is to proclaim the Gospel to the world. Sunday evening is our discipleship training. The aim of the sermon in the evenings is to equip the church to be the church 24/7 – not just when we are ‘gathered’ but also during the rest of the week when we are ‘scattered’. The third core meeting is the Wednesday evening Bible study and prayer meeting. This is our family and fellowship time where we talk together around the scriptures, support one another in prayer and intercede for the world around us.
The Bible teaches us that every Christian has been given some spiritual gift from the Lord Jesus himself. There are many different types of gifts that operate in different contexts with varying results. Some gifts are ‘equipping gifts’ like preaching and teaching, some are ‘miraculous gifts’ like tongues and healing, but the most vital are the ‘everyday gifts’ like wisdom, helping, showing mercy and administration.
You find your gifts by seeking to serve and then noticing when and where God makes you a blessing to others. Whenever you see that, you know you have a spiritual gift and you should do it more.
Here is a powerful quote from Tim Keller that shows how important our spiritual gifts are: spiritual gifts mean that each of us has a ministry ability that’s part of the ministry ability of Christ . . . Every one of us has a different thing we can do. When we’re all doing it together, we have all the ministry powers of Christ available to impact the community. Christ can preach in [this city]. Christ can work with [disadvantaged people]. Christ can counsel the stressed people. Christ can heal relationships. Christ can do mercy and service and helps and exhortation. Christ can do that in [this city]. Why? Because we’re here.
The main decision-making body of the church is the Members Meeting. These are held several times a year and at these meetings information is shared, ideas are considered and strategic decisions are made. Being a member means making time and space to be a part of these meetings.
Church leadership exists to serve, support and equip the membership in word and deed. We have three types of church leaders. A Minister who gives himself to prayer and the ministry of the Word, Elders who provide pastoral oversight and support, and Deacons who take care of practical aspects of church life. These all meet together once a month in the Church Officers Meeting.
To help us function in our context in the UK, Grangetown Baptist Church is a registered charity. The Minister, Elders and Deacons are the Trustees of the charity and are accountable to the Charity Commission to ensure that everything is done decently and in order. Every year we send a report and audited accounts to the Charity Commission. These are made publicly available on the Charity Commission website, along with the name of each trustee. Our Charity Number is: 500597.
The church is funded mainly by the sacrificial giving of its members. We also seek support from other sources as appropriate.
There are several ways to give to the work
1. Our ‘stewardship’ account – This is the best way to give if you pay income tax as it enables us to reclaim the tax you have paid on the amount you give. Forms are available from the Treasurer
2. By electronic transfer or standing order – Our bank details are as follows
Bank: The Co-operative Bank
Account Number: 50115712
Account Name: Grangetown Baptist Church
Sort code: 08-90-03
3. The offering box – we don’t take up an offering at any of our services, but there is a box just inside the door of the main auditorium for any who would like to give when they come to services and events. Any cheques should be made payable to ‘Grangetown Baptist Church.’
4. The giving button at the bottom of the page. It enables you to make an online payment using a debit or credit card.
Who is membership for?
Those who have been converted – A person becomes a Christian when they repent of their sin and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the starting point for any potential new member.
Those who have been baptised – We only baptise people by immersing them in water when they have made a personal profession of faith in Christ and repentance towards God.
Those who want to be disciples – Belonging to a local church is God’s way of providing the support network and resources we need to move from conversion to discipleship. It is also the context in which we can play our part in discipling others.
Those giving, serving & submitting – It is impossible to obey the New Testament on your own. Fifty-nine times we are commanded to love and serve ‘one another’ in some way. Being part of the life of a local church is the main way we obey these commands, using our time and resources for others in the church, and then together, seeking to serve our community for Jesus’ sake.
Every Christian everywhere – The Bible simply assumes that every believer will be part of a local church. So, for example, in Acts 2.47 conversion to Christ is described as ‘the Lord adding to the church’. A local church does not have a membership, the local church is the membership.
How do you become a member?
Step 1: see one of the elders
They will take you through this document and answer any questions you may have. There will also be a form to fill out.
Step 2: well, it depends where you’re at!
The aim of Step 1 is to find out where you are in your relationship to God. Maybe you are not yet converted, or not yet baptised. If so, this is where Step 2 would focus. Step 2 is therefore very flexible. It may be short or long, depending on what needs to happen.
Step 3: a church members meeting
The elders commend prospective members to a meeting of the existing church members. There will be a show of hands to indicate your acceptance into membership. Just as the church members meeting receives new members, so it has the responsibility of removing any member who ceases to believe, denies some crucial doctrine, adopts a lifestyle that is incompatible with the lordship of Christ, or who simply stops coming.
Step 4: be officially welcomed one Sunday
As soon as possible after the meeting we will get you up the front on a Sunday and formally welcome you into the church. This gives a chance for us to mark this special occasion for the church and pray for you as a congregation.
Step 5: grow, worship and serve together
All this is only the beginning. Church membership is a living, breathing, growing set of relationships and experiences. Our calling is to grow together, serving one another and our community, for the glory of God and the praise of his name, all the days of our lives.