On the first day of autumn it seems appropriate to talk about new beginnings. Today marks a new beginning for me as I enter the world of blogging. Journaling, I’ve done – regularly – for about twenty years. Blogging? Now, that’s another story. Sharing my private thoughts on the web for anyone to see? Are you kidding?!?! That’s why I have a journal - it’s just between me and God. But here goes… GULP.

This feels like a season of new beginnings. Just two days ago I became a charter member of a new church, joining under the category “Profession of Faith.” I surprised a few people that day because they figured I already was a member. I look, walk, talk, and smell like a church member. I lead worship as a singer with the praise band and a Scripture reader. I facilitate a small group. I give generously of my prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. I work for the denomination, for heaven’s sake!

In truth, I have not been a member of any church – save the “church universal” – since 1999. Shocking, I know. I’ve been a Christian for decades. I was baptized as an infant into the Methodist Episcopal Church (that gives you a clue about my age), confirmed into the church as a teen and I’ve been working for the Church since 1996. On Charter Sunday, upon seeing that I was just then joining the church, one person said to me, “Cutting it a little close, huh? Why’d you wait until now?” My external, “church-friendly” self responded with a polite laugh, smile, and “Well, I wanted to become a member on the official day,” while my un-sanctified, imperfect self internally reacted, “Do you really want to know? ‘Cause I’ll tell you!” So now, as an official “member” (again), I have something to say about what membership means to me.

Where do I begin to address that person’s question? I’ve been involved with this project (now officially known as “Providence United Methodist Church”) since it was merely a topic of conversation with the district and conference. Just over two years ago, the senior pastor of the “mother” congregation asked me to serve on the new church launch team. He knew I’d been part of the leadership team of another successful new church back in the mid 1990s and figured I’d be a good person to have on the team. Initially, I hesitated, thinking, “I don’t know if I have the energy to help start another church.” But tremendous blessings have entered my life as a result of saying “yes” to God through this invitation, including my position with the Path 1 staff team. Does my role in helping to plant this new church make me a member? Technically, no. Emotionally, practically, you bet!

Now, technically speaking, nobody was a “member” of this new church until Sunday, but over the past year, we’ve received “covenant members” in anticipation of the day when we became an “official” United Methodist church, on Sunday, September 20, 2009. What a great day and a joyous celebration! But this was not my first time to become a charter member of a United Methodist congregation. Yes, I’m now a charter member of two different churches. (I wonder how many people can say that? I wonder how many more charter memberships I can rack up in the next 40 years or so if I stay involved with new church development? BUt I digress…) 

Until two days ago, I hadn’t been a “member” of The United Methodist Church since 1999. Here’s how it happened: In 1996 I became a charter member of another United Methodist congregation, with a transfer of membership from yet another United Methodist church. Shortly thereafter, I felt God call me to work for that congregation as a lay staff person. I did that until 1998, when I moved away to work for another church, in a different denomination. That church had a policy that staff could not be members and members could not be staff. The policy facilitated clear boundaries among people in the church and enabled the church to address staff problems without losing members. I supported and saw the benefits of the policy and actively engaged in my ministry, sans membership. No problem.

In the meantime, the church where my membership resided took seriously its Wesleyan heritage. Because I was not there to support the church with my prayers, presence, gifts and service, they removed me from membership. I also supported and saw the benefits of that policy. Thus, I became a Christian servant with no formal church membership. Did my zeal for “new places for new people” and my servanthood suffer from a lack of formal connection to a church body? I’ll let God be the judge of that one.

Over the past ten years, I’ve used my story to illustrate the importance of taking membership seriously, but not making it the measure of one’s faith commitment. I, like many persons in the Postmodern and Millennial generations, consider being a “church member” secondary to being a faithful Christian. I believe that my actions speak louder than a piece of paper that says I’m “in the club” of the church. I believe that my life bears witness to membership that lasts and really counts - that of Luke 10 (my name is “written in heaven”) and of Matthew 25 (that I will one day hear “well done” from the one who made me, saved me, and sanctifies me). I believe that many others share my belief and look to new congregations to help them express that belief in relevant, meaningful ways. 

For today, I rejoice in my faith, professed and affirmed in my membership the church universal and, once again, in The United Methodist Church.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 7:38 am and is filed under Emily Reece, Launch, New Church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.