Why Attend a Members' Meeting?
Why attend a Members’ Meeting? This is a great question. Maybe your thought is: “with all the stuff that we already do on Sundays, why give up another hour to observe a meeting that doesn’t even include any singing or preaching?” Or maybe you feel like Members’ Meetings are boring. Or maybe you feel awkward about Members’ Meetings because you think that these kinds of meetings mean people are going to argue and disagree with each other.
This article is an attempt to briefly give you a different vision of Members’ Meetings. Let me step back for a moment. Have you ever wondered what it means to be a member of a church? We try to summarize what it means in our Member Covenant, which is the very first thing you see when you look at our church Bylaws. Our Member Covenant is what we’ve each agreed to as members of our church, and we remind ourselves of these commitments by reciting it at the beginning of each Members’ Meeting. In our Member Covenant, we say this:
“We will promote the spiritual growth of one another by participating in the worship, ordinances, and discipline of our church, by scripturally testing the teachings of our church, and by giving generously of our resources to meet the needs of our body and spread the gospel to all nations.”
This paragraph gets at some of the importance of Members’ Meetings. Let me give you three reasons to attend them.
1. Attend Members’ Meetings because you love the members of our church.
I think that the most important thing we do at Members’ Meetings is add and remove members. After all, what is the church? The church is people. Not just any people. But people who have a genuine faith in Jesus Christ. As a church, we need to know who we are (who is new here, who has left and connected with another local church, etc.).
And further, as a church, we need to guard the gospel. One of the primary ways we guard the gospel is by making sure that those entering our church have a genuine profession of faith and a life that would agree with their profession. At Members’ Meetings, you get to hear about the professions of faith of those entering our congregation and see their faces so that you can get to know them better in the future.
And further, Members’ Meetings are where we handle church discipline situations. We are all accountable to one another. You as members of this church should be holding me accountable to my profession of faith and vice versa. In other words, I hope that if I walk away from my faith into a life of sin, that you will love me enough to walk through the process of church discipline in hope that God will use the process to draw me back to repentance and faith in Jesus. The church discipline process is to restore a brother/sister who is walking away from the faith. Additionally, the process serves as a warning to each of us to guard our faith. We participate in this church discipline process, in part, during Members’ Meetings. This is part of your role as a member.
2. Attend Members’ Meetings because you love the purity of gospel truth.
In Galatians 1, when Paul is about to confront the Galatian church for turning to another gospel, notice whom he addresses. He does not address the elders. He addresses the church as a whole. In fact, he says to the church, “If we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” And he says it again a verse later: “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”
One of your greatest responsibilities as a member of this church is to know the gospel and to help guard the gospel. This is why any adjustments to our statement of faith (in particular) and even our Bylaws (in general) can only happen by vote of the members of the church in a Members’ Meeting. Why is that? Because we as members are called to guard gospel truth in the church. This doesn’t mean we won’t ever adjust the Bylaws or even the Statement of Faith. They are not Scripture, and so at times they can better align with Scripture. What this does mean is that you should be an active part of the process so that you are doing your job of guarding gospel truth in this local church.
You might think that it’s the leadership’s job to guard gospel purity in the church. That’s true, in part. But what if the leadership moves away from gospel purity? Remember what Paul said to the Galatians? “If we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” More than one church has been led astray by false teaching. You as members need to know the gospel and participate in guarding it. One of the primary ways you participate in this is by nominating and electing gifted and qualified men to lead the church in gospel purity. This electing of men to serve on the Pastoral Body happens in Members’ Meetings.
3. Attend Members’ Meetings because you love the mission of the church.
One of the most important things we do every year in our Members’ Meetings is vote on how we will invest the dollars that we collectively give as a church. Giving to God’s work through the church is a wise investment. And you as a member get to participate in the process of determining how these funds are used and in helping to make sure they are used wisely. So, take this responsibility seriously. Know the mission of the church. And help us make sure that our finances are always being spent both here and around the world in support of that mission.
Finally, let me finish by giving you three encouragements that flow out of the reasons I’ve already given to attend Members’ Meetings.
1. Attend, If at All Possible
There may be reasons you are not able to attend. You may be out of town. You may need to watch your children at home so that your spouse can attend. Maybe your health does not enable you to attend. But if at all possible, be faithful in attending these. This isn’t about boosting Members’ Meeting numbers. We don’t track those, that I know of. But it is about taking seriously your responsibility as a member of the church! If you attend these regularly, you may be surprised at how much more connected you feel to everything that God is doing through our local church. You’ll begin to feel more a part of it yourself.
2. Participate Inside of the Meeting
Sometimes there’s a “sense” that when we ask for questions, we’re hoping no one will ask any questions. Maybe that is the hope of some. But that’s certainly not the hope of those leading our Members’ Meetings. We have nothing to hide, and therefore we are happy to answer questions. Maybe the difference is between those who are asking questions and those who are doing what we might call “grand-standing.” It’s possible that we are hoping that no one does that. But we certainly want to help bring clarity where it is needed so that you can confidently participate in any votes or other follow-up that is asked of you. So, please participate in meetings as opportunity is given.
3. Participate Outside of the Meeting
Sometimes information is sent to you ahead of meetings. In the past couple of years, we’ve sent a lot more information about the budget ahead of time so you can have a clear picture of how the money you invest here is being used to support God’s work here and around the world. Please look over this kind of information before a meeting and even ask questions ahead of time! Sometimes we ask you to pray for a particular member who is living in unrepentant sin or even to reach out to a member if you know him or her. Please do this, participating in the process of restoration that God has given us. Sometimes you may be in a conversation with a member of our church who does not view Members’ Meetings as very important. Kindly converse with and encourage him or her with the various reasons that we have to view these as significant and important in our personal lives and in the life of the church as a whole.
I hope I’ve given you some things to think about. Ultimately, I hope you continue to take your membership seriously, including attending all of the Members’ Meetings you are able. When we announce one, go ahead and put it in your calendar. Being with us for these meetings on a regular basis will further root yourself in the knowledge of who we are as a church and in your participation in what we are doing as a church. I hope to see you at one soon!