DALLAS (ABP) — In a growing number of Baptist churches, new arrivals learn an important lesson early: Membership has its privileges, but it also has its responsibilities.
“We want to create a culture of discipleship here,” said John Wilson, minister of Christian education at Friendship-West Baptist Church, an African-American megachurch in Dallas.
Candidates for membership know early on that they must attend two five-hour orientation classes on consecutive Saturdays in order to join the congregation.
Once they complete the classes, where facilitators help them discover their spiritual gifts and match them to available ministries in the church, their graduation is noted in a “celebration service.” At that point, the pastor announces the ministries in which the newly admitted members plan to serve.
The toll of the commitment is telling. Wilson said that only one-third of the people who walk the aisle to join the church during a worship-service invitation end up graduating from the orientation class.
But of those who complete the class, most honor their service commitments, he noted. And ministers on staff use a church-designed software program to keep in touch with people who express a commitment to specific areas of responsibility.
Many new members at Friendship-West go on to become involved in other discipleship-training opportunities the church offers such as teacher-certification classes required for Bible study leaders or a three-year program for ministers in training.
Church leaders estimate that roughly 90 percent of the people who enroll in the teacher-certification classes complete the 35-hour training in biblical interpretation, theology and fundamentals of teaching. In the last eight years, the church has certified about 400 teachers.
“If you challenge your people to grow, most are going to respond to the challenge,” Wilson said. “We set the bar high because God's Word is high. If you set the bar of expectation too low, you do people a disservice.”
Similarly, Legacy Church in Plano, Texas, invites prospective members to attend a two-session “discover Legacy” class.
The classes teach about the church's mission, beliefs and values. But first, facilitators help the inquirers — many previously unchurched or from non-Baptist backgrounds — understand what it means to become a Christian.
“We've had people give their lives to Christ in our membership classes,” said Pastor Gene Wilkes.
Between the first and second sessions of the orientation class, prospective members are asked to write their Christian testimony and complete a spiritual-gifts inventory. At the end of the second session, after they learn more about how to apply their particular talents and skills within the context of Legacy Church, they sign an agreement form.
“When they sign the covenant, that's when they become members,” Wilkes explained.
The method of tying membership to a covenant pledge rather than a congregational vote and allowing people to commit in a small class rather than during a worship service — both not traditionally Baptist strategies –proved difficult for some members at Legacy to accept, Wilkes acknowledged.
“Initially, some longtime Baptists said, ‘We don't sign anything,'” he recalled. But pointing them to church covenants from the mid-20th century that were in the back of Baptist hymnals helped soften the blow.
The new-member orientation classes grew out of need, as the congregation changed from people who transferred membership from other Baptist churches to people who were joining a Baptist church for the first time, he added.
“When Baptists move from franchise to franchise, everybody gets it,” Wilkes said. “But when we started reaching non-Southern Baptists and unchurched people, we realized we had to make it clear who we are and what we expect.
The church had an outreach program and Wilkes had opportunity to visit with many of the newcomers, but others came whom he hadn't met. During the traditional voting method following a public invitation, he essentially had 30 seconds to decide whether to present the new people for membership, he said.
“For us, it's a matter of truth in advertising,” he added.
After learning the demands of membership, some inquirers opt to remain involved in worship services and Bible studies but not take the next step of commitment, Wilkes said.
And while many of those people contribute to the life of the congregation in a variety of ways, they are not eligible to vote in church business conferences or become part of the church's leadership network, he said.
Not surprisingly, numerical growth has slowed since the congregation adopted the covenant approach to assimilating new members, Wilkes said, but the commitment level has increased.
“It has raised the value of membership,” he said.
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