BLOGGING TOWARD SUNDAY…

This is the time of year when United Methodist preachers feel as if we are sitting on pins and needles while our futures are being determined by our bishop and cabinet…we wonder whether we’re moving or staying put. But what about church members?

According to an article by Edwin Driel in the January issue of Theology Today, many Christians think of church membership as a matter of personal choice, and they feel free to go church shopping whenever their congregation no longer meets their needs, or they experience some conflict in their congregation. But what if church membership were seen as based on a divine covenant instead of a personal choice?

That might prompt a congregation to say to a disgruntled member who asks to transfer his membership: “We’re sorry, but we can’t do this. Obviously there is something that bothers you about our church. We are commmitted to working on this, however difficult and painful it might be for all of us.”

And to someone wishing to transfer in from another church, we might say: “We are sorry, but we cannot do this. Obviously there is something that bothers you about your own church, and we are committed to helping you with that…If you have a conflict with your pastor, or church leaders, we would like to devote our time and energy to sit down with you and see if we can facilitate a process of reconciliation.”

If disgruntled church members were to act like that, and churches were to act like that, there’d be a lot more staying put, and all of us would be healthier and happier, not to mention being more like Jesus.

Filed under: Blogging Toward Sunday