Why Membership?

You might wonder, “What is the point of formal membership? If I sincerely profess faith in Jesus Christ, why is anything else needed? Isn’t it enough just to attend the church without actually becoming a member?” Here are some reasons we feel membership can help us achieve what we desire most as disciples of Jesus:

1. Membership counts me in on a great cause.

Trinity Church ‘s purpose is to:

Follow Jesus

Nurture spiritual growth

Bless all people.

Membership is our way of saying, “Count me in. I’m not just a spectator; I’m on the team now. I’m not just a ‘church shopper’ checking you out; I’m ready to get involved now. I want to work with the rest of you by making this cause my cause, our cause. I want to experience life in all its fullness by growing and serving others.

2. Membership commits me to a community of mutually committed people. Without a high level of care and commitment you don’t experience community, because lukewarm commitments lead to superficial relationships. Since we want to experience deeper relationships, we see membership as a way of defining a deeper level of care and commitment.  Here’s what we’ve discovered: if we want Trinity Church to be “warm and welcoming” at the fringe, our commitment and care levels must be “hot” at the core.  Membership encourages a “100 degree” commitment for our core so that, for example, a first-time visitor finds a warm “70 degree” welcome even on his or her first visit. Membership helps us define what “100 degree” commitment looks like.

3. Membership helps the community keep expectations clear. A clearly defined membership helps us to keep clear what we expect of members and nonmembers. On the one hand, we enthusiastically welcome interested but as yet uncommitted people to attend our Sunday celebrations. We do expect our members to act like Christians ... imperfect, to be sure, but genuine, honest, and growing. Membership helps define the expectations we have in this regard. This definition is important in the area of church discipline: only members receive the pastoral oversight, accountability, and protection associated with church discipline. This is the historic pattern of the earliest church (see I Corinthians 5 for a striking example.)

4. Membership affirms that we hold to similar values and beliefs. Membership helps us to be sure that we hold to the same core of beliefs and are committed to each other’s growth in a unified way. It ensures that we corporately build upon a strong, shared foundation of faith, creating a church which truly advances the cause of Jesus Christ. Without defining our core beliefs and values, we could find ourselves “playing from a different sheet of music,” or building on different foundations with differing blueprints.

5. Membership helps us deal with financial issues directly, discreetly, and up front.

At Trinity Church, we ask our members to be highly committed financially so that our needs are met without having to pressure people or barrage them with emergency appeals. We are often told that people respect us for the serious and yet discreet way we approach this issue. We’re all in this together, and we believe God can do great things with people who are learning how to sacrifice and generously give.

6. Members understand their role and use their gifts, talents, and abilities. In many churches, there is a consumerist model that strongly influences expectations. On that view the members are the customers and the clergy are the staff, hired and expected to meet their needs. At Trinity Church, we have a completely different understanding of what it means to be the church. We believe it is a biblical model. Here, the members are the staff, not expecting to be served by the paid staff but are equipped by the paid staff to serve one another as volunteer staff … and to reach out to our neighbors who are our real “customers.” By having a defined membership, we know who is on the team, and we can be sure they find the best “position” on the team — the place where they will be most effective and fulfilled as we work together to reach our team objective. Our Church 301 class is an opportunity to discover your strengths and abilities for ministry.

7. Membership counts you in as a host to newcomers. As a member, you are the face of Trinity Church to your coworkers, neighbors, everyone you meet. You are also the face of Trinity Church to every first-time visitor and so any guest to the church is your guest. You will want to consider questions like these...

When your guests drive up to SAIT, do they know where to park? Will they find a convenient space easily, and are they greeted by you with smiles and hellos as they reach the doors of the Campus Centre?

Do your guests need help getting settled or finding where their children can go for their class?

Do your guests know where the coffee is and where the Connecting Point is?

Do your guests need a smile, a warm hello, some information, or an invitation to join you for lunch to get better acquainted?

Would your guest appreciate an invitation to your Community Group, or help in finding a Community Group convenient to where they live?

8. Members can participate in the internal affairs and decisions regularly made in the operations of our community.

As a member, you have the right to influence key decisions of the church including the selection of the senior pastor and the yearly election of Steering Team members. From time to time, meetings or other functions are held which are for “members only.” These gatherings are usually called to either inform the core of the church of a major concern, gather needed input on a big decision facing the congregation, or make such a decision.

9. Membership opens the door for different leadership roles. A few leadership positions at Trinity require a measurable level of commitment to our cause, vision and core beliefs as a prerequisite. We ask our Community Group leaders and Steering Team to be Trinity Church members.