What is Church Membership?
Church membership is a formal, covenantal relationship between a family or individual and a true, local manifestation of Christ’s visible church.[1] It begins with the understanding that Christ not only possesses an invisible church[2] but has also established a visible church on earth:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:18-20, ESV).[3]
Through church membership (CM) we recognize that God provides for our spiritual growth by placing us in a community where our faith in Christ can be strengthened and affirmed in a tangible way. CM is an important step both for the individual and for the church community, and in the Presbyterian tradition this involves accountability of like-minded individuals under the care of qualified elders, for the corporate peace and purity of the church.
If you are transferring your membership from elsewhere, it indicates that GCEC is the place where God is calling you to make your spiritual home.
If you are professing your faith for the first time, you are saying, in essence, that you recognize how God has been working through the GCEC community to make His grace real to you in Christ.
Church Membership Classes
Following the regulations in the GCEC Book of Church Order, potential church members are required to attend services for one year, with reasonable consistency (i.e., absences should be due to unavoidable circumstances or emergencies). After the one-year probation period, the potential church member should write to the church elders his desire to be a communicant member of Grace Covenant. Upon approval, the potential members are required to go through a formal membership inquirers’ class, which usually has four sessions.
CM Classes are scheduled sessions wherein potential members are given lessons on the importance of membership and for them to understand fully what it means to be a covenant member of the Church.
[1] https://www.christurc.org/blog/2013/03/09/what-is-church-membership-and-why-is-it-necessary
[2] That is, all the elect people of God whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev 21:27).
[3] All Scripture references in this study are from the English Standard Version (2001).