Shuck and Jive


Monday, April 26, 2010

Why Join A Church?

On Pentecost Sunday we will welcome new members. I have invited Wayne Schwandt to preach. Wayne is leading our Original Blessing workshop that weekend. It is a big weekend and a big Sunday celebrating Spirit.

Here is a plug I put in our newsletter regarding "joining the church."

We will be welcoming new members on May 23rd, Pentecost Sunday! We welcome new members three times per year. If you are interested in uniting with this community, contact me. I will be glad to let you know what our church is all about. I have been known to hang around coffee shops.

It is easy to join. You can join by transferring from another congregation, or if you have never been baptized, you can join that way. Also, reaffirmation of faith. This means you were a member of a church at one time but swore you would never darken a church door again, then, poof, you found us and thought you could give church one more try.

You might ask, "Why should I bother joining a church? I am just not that into organized religion in the first place."

I hear you. If it helps, we are mostly disorganized. True enough, joining the church doesn't provide you with that many worldly benefits. Members get to vote at congregational meetings and they can hold office. For most, that isn't much of a prize. Many folks participate and have done so for years without joining. You don't have to be a member to be involved in our activities.

But those who do take the plunge, bite the bullet, grab the reins, and swing on the vine, often do so because they believe in what we are doing and want to stand with us. We encourage and support people who are involved in peacemaking, human rights, and environmental and economic justice. We encourage and support people who are involved in repairing homes, preparing meals, and healing bodies.

We are a More Light congregation. That means we support the full inclusion of LGBT people in the life of our congregation and in society. We also provide a place where people can explore ideas and find their own particular spiritual path.

We aren't looking for folks just to get on the membership rolls. We are looking for folks who having found a home here are ready to roll up their sleeves and work with us, take off their shoes and dance with us, let loose their inhibitions and sing with us, and put on their hiking boots and explore creation with us!

On May 23rd, those who have decided to join will be introduced to the congregation and we will have a party following. It is that easy. : )

Let me know if you are ready to choose your fate, jump in with both feet, leap into the breach, leave a crossroads, make your move, pass the Rubicon, prendre la balle au bond, take for better or worse, and take the bull by the horns!

3 comments:

  1. We have these debates in Canada about what does membership mean? It is part and parcel about the debate (which you encapsulate nicely here) over defining success by warm bodies or as I like to think about it, the quantity over quality argument.

    From now on I think I will think of membership as "taking the bull by the horns." That's an image that will be hard to get out of my head.

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  2. Have you thought about "internet affiliate" members?

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