Hi everyone, Some rather random responses to this thread. Please bear in mind when reading this that I am very tired, so the level of logic could well leave something to be desired:
Like Wesley, I also had a passing thought about a sporting team analogy. I can go to as many matches in a season as I like and wear team colours and support the team and everyone is quite happy and people will smile at me and be nice to me because I am supporting the same team as them, but if I want to actually play in the team, I need to commit to being there every week or letting the coach or captain know that I won't be, and attending training regularly, knowing the rules and probably also paying some sort of fee to cover insurance etc. Or if I go along to lots of the plays that the local theatre company puts on, they will be delighted that I'm a faithful supporter, but if I want to have serious input into what they stage or how they do it, I need to be prepared to either act or help behind the scenes and make a commitment to being reliable. I am not suggesting that we run churches like sporting teams or theatre companies, because we certainly don't want to insist that our members prove that they are "talented enough" before we let them play and people do need to be given a chance to see what it's like before they make a commitment, but I think that if people want to be included in the decision-making process they need to be willing to commit to helping the decisions be put into practise and they also need to be willing to try to understand how the church works and what it believes so that they are not constantly working against 'the mind of the church'. And if we take seriously the idea that all people are gifted differently so the body of Christ can function effectively (1 Corinthians somewhere), we should be encouraging people to discover and develop their giftedness for the good of the body and for their own spiritual growth, not saying "Oh well, just come along when you feel like it - that's all you ever need to do." One of the big differences is that we tend to provide some extra services for those who just come along without making any particular commitment - ie access to other church activities and services (various groups, plus weddings and funerals and even baptisms), pastoral care, emergency relief etc. And no-one wants to belong to a sporting team, theatre company etc that doesn't require some level of commitment because without commitment to practising and turning up to engagements from members, they are embarassingly bad. Perhaps that goes some way to explaining the church membership drain over the past several decades? Not that I'm suggesting we start marking rolls or setting exams or anything like that, but we might like to think about being a bit more upfront about the benefits of commitment as opposed to 'fan' or 'audience' status? Judy -- "Politics is the work we do to keep the world safe for our spirituality" - Judith Plaskow Rev Judy Redman Uniting Church Chaplain University of New England Armidale 2351 ph: +61 2 6773 3739 fax: +61 2 6773 3749 web: http://www.une.edu.au/campus/chaplaincy/uniting/ action for peace: http://www.une.edu.au/campus/chaplaincy/uniting/links/peace.html email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Susan & Wesley > Sent: Friday, 12 March 2004 4:11 PM > To: Insights List > Subject: Re: Church Membership - Secret Handshake > > > Let me get this straight - are not talking about capital 'M' Membership of > the Uniting Church in Australia as is indicated in the Regulations etc, or > are talking about little 'm' membership of a congregation or > faith community > within the Church? > > I never really got into the debate that the 'Youthfulish' members of > Assembly got into and then took to the authors of the Becoming Disciples > Paper/process which is basically this same issue. > > We are or at least should be talking about pastoral care and 'eldership' > issues, not the Membership issue . If someone becomes a 'm'ember of a > Church they can participate fully in that place - they can participate and > lead worship, they can help plan services, and some congs & fth > comms. will > be happy to let them participate in church meetings. > > [I was going to use the football team analogy as well, but my point was to > say that I have never been a member of any othe clubs I follow, > but if go go > to the ground and support that team with my jersey or scarf on I do indeed > feel like I belong.] > > However, if they want to become part of the Presbytery, Synod or Assembly, > it is only fair to them and the wider church that they go through > a process > to learn about the Church and how it works (or doesn't in some cases!). > > My two cents worth > > Wesley > > > ------------------------------------------------------ > - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] > - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the > message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) > See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm > ------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
