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I had this sudden question arise after reading the post about the church wanting place of birth on the membership application..
How many churches can I join? I mean, if I complete 40-50 applications,am I not a member of each church, and would I then not be counted multiple times as a "christian" at each church?
Which ultimately raises the question, how do we really know how many individual church members there really are??
There really is no way that "First Community Church" can know that "Second Community Church" also counts Brother Bill as a member. I meet with other pastors from my area, but we really don't talk about our members and who comes/goes.
One member of my church moved to a town an hour away. I drafted a letter stating she had been a member in good standing for her transfer to a new church (Baptist, I believe). She then withdrew her membership here. On the other hand, I have heard of a couple in my area that has been telling people she's a member of my church, but she's never been here. It's just one of those things.
Membership in any organization is revocable if standards aren't met. In a church, it's called excommunication. I'd check the fine print to avoid any embarrassing announcements
Membership in any organization is revocable if standards aren't met. In a church, it's called excommunication. I'd check the fine print to avoid any embarrassing announcements
I have quite an extensive list of places I have been excommunicated from..as Groucho said--
I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.
There really is no way that "First Community Church" can know that "Second Community Church" also counts Brother Bill as a member. I meet with other pastors from my area, but we really don't talk about our members and who comes/goes.
One member of my church moved to a town an hour away. I drafted a letter stating she had been a member in good standing for her transfer to a new church (Baptist, I believe). She then withdrew her membership here. On the other hand, I have heard of a couple in my area that has been telling people she's a member of my church, but she's never been here. It's just one of those things.
Most likely that is the case. I know the last mega church (over 6,000 "members") I went too (1989) had a membership committee that met twice a month to identify those who attended weekly and those who did not--assuming everyone filled out a tag for the collection plate of signed in for one of the 20 different classes held throughout the day on Sunday.
They would cross reference this sheet with previous sheets and then set out to send cards to those whose names were not showing up on a weekly basis to invite them back.
The church also kept a running total of "regular" attendees (these were "members") and sporadic attendees that came by a few times a month. They could would publish this number every Sunday morning and it was always a "joyous" announcement when the number increased and a quite reflective moment when the number dropped--as it was the Church and the "members" who either brought more people in or chased a few out the door.
Most likely that is the case. I know the last mega church (over 6,000 "members") I went too (1989) had a membership committee that met twice a month to identify those who attended weekly and those who did not--assuming everyone filled out a tag for the collection plate of signed in for one of the 20 different classes held throughout the day on Sunday.
They would cross reference this sheet with previous sheets and then set out to send cards to those whose names were not showing up on a weekly basis to invite them back.
The church also kept a running total of "regular" attendees (these were "members") and sporadic attendees that came by a few times a month. They could would publish this number every Sunday morning and it was always a "joyous" announcement when the number increased and a quite reflective moment when the number dropped--as it was the Church and the "members" who either brought more people in or chased a few out the door.
I've seen it in a number of little churches like mine, but the treasurer does a count of attendance and then posts the number, last week's attendance, and the amount of the offering. I think it's a good thing for the people to know how much was taken in by the offering. Financial accountability is a good thing -- and it's why we post our treasurer reports in the back of the church.
As for that other church, I think that's great. I've seen people come and go from churches that large and no one notices. They feel like they fall through the cracks and no one cares because it's easy to get lost in a big crowd.
Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Viz.
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