Theology Thursday: MCC's Membership Policy

August 21st, 2025

Welcome to Theology Thursday! Theology is the study of God, his relation to the world, and our relation to him. I hope these newsletters help enhance your faith and deepen your love for God and his people, the church.

Today's question:
What is MCC's membership policy?

At MCC, we desire to practice meaningful membership, and believe that doing so is a crucial aspect of the discipleship process and vital for living out our mission to know God and make him known, for realizing our vision to Love20, and for embracing each of our four core values: unity in gospel truth, spiritual formation, theological thoroughness, and relational authenticity.

As such, we're spending a few Theology Thursdays diving into MCC's membership philosophy and policy. So far, we've examined the idea of church membership in general. Today is the final installment in this series, where we look at MCC's membership policy; his version was formally approved by the MCC elders in November, 2024.

Pastor Brady's thoughts:
Minier Christian Church has long (always?) practiced a form of church membership. Membership at MCC consists of those who have professed faith and been baptized as believers at MCC or elsewhere and have placed their membership at MCC.

Per the by-laws, membership at MCC enables elevated congregational participation over non-member attendees in four areas:

1) Members aged 16 years and older can vote at the annual meeting for elders, the budget, and other matters;

2) the pulpit committee to call a new Lead Minister is to consist of members, as are the committees to recommend other staff hires to the elders;

3) proposed amendments to the by-laws must be approved by membership vote;

4) and general governance and decisions regarding church matters are ultimately the responsibility of the membership.

Not included in the by-laws, but per prior practice and confirmed as policy at the 4/1/25 elders’ meeting, deacons/Ministry Team Leaders and Co-Leaders must be members, and must be approved by MCC ministry staff. The goal is to encourage membership for those who are called and gifted to serve and lead (and to everyone who otherwise meets the membership requirements).

MCC does not limit to its membership participation in two areas of church practice many other churches do: partaking of the Lord’s Supper and serving on a ministry team.

MCC also does not require prospective members to affirm agreement with all aspects of its Statement of Faith. A public profession of personal faith (coinciding with the believer’s baptism) is sufficient, and is generally stated something like:

“I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I accept him as my Lord and savior, and I commit to follow him with my life.”

Additionally, MCC does not require a membership approval vote to accept new transfer (or placement) members; new members are accepted based on the leadership’s evaluation of the validity of the profession of faith/baptism.

The MCC by-laws define who qualifies as a member, stating:

All who have been immersed upon a confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior at the Minier Christian Church, and those who have been immersed upon a like confession of faith elsewhere and have come into the fellowship of the Minier Christian Church by statement or letter shall be considered members of the Minier Christian Church.

While this language is perhaps adequate for entry into MCC membership, it does not provide authority or a process for removing members, does not outline a process for exercising discipline or define the circumstances where that could be necessary, and does not articulate expectations for members regarding Christian living and participation in church life. To address each of these three needs, the MCC elders adopted the following policies 11/5/2024.

Practice for Removing Members
Per an annual review by church leadership, MCC members may be removed from the roster for the following reasons:

1) Death.

2) Sunday morning church service attendance below 50% over the previous 52 Sundays, with the following exceptions: prolonged or chronic health issues; permanent homebound status or placement in a residential care facility that does not enable physical attendance at MCC; young members away at college whose parents are still MCCers; active but temporary military commitments; other situations determined via elder discretion.

3) Transfer to and/or regular attendance at another church.

4) The execution and exhaustion of the church discipline process (outlined below) and resulting excommunication.

Practice for Church Discipline and Excommunication
Assuming the guidelines outlined in Matthew 18 have been followed, the Lead Minister and elders, having been made aware of outward, serious, unrepentant and/or unreconciled sin, will act on behalf of the individual and for the church family. This action should be approved by a majority of elders before moving forward.

At the discretion of the Lead Minister and elders, the sinner and the sin will be made public to the congregation, as will the decision to remove the person from membership. The reasons will be articulated (with wisdom and discernment regarding what is included and what is not) so the church body has a proper understanding of the gravity of the situation and the cause for removal. The path to reconciliation will also be communicated publicly.

Church leaders will encourage members to rally around the excommunicated former member, and will encourage the excommunicated former member to take the steps toward repentance and restoration.

Church leaders will also remind the excommunicated former member and the gathered members that excommunication does not mean (except in rare cases that generally include legal or police involvement) a ban from worship services or other church events. It’s a removal of the individual's membership, denoting a loss of faithful followership as determined by the Lead Minister and elders.

Member Expectations
MCC members are expected to exercise their membership by participating in church life in the following ways:

Belonging

Belonging to a church means investing one’s life in a gospel-centered community of believers who joyfully serve one another and advance Jesus’s mission together.

MCC members will work to elevate the very concept of church; they won’t treat the church as unimportant, unnecessary, or an inconvenience. The church is imperfect but indispensable to faithful Christian discipleship.

MCC members will belong to and in the church in a very real sense. They will commit to pray for the church, give and receive friendship and counsel, invest in and take responsibility for the success of church events and efforts, and generally orient their lives around the rhythms of church life.

Welcoming

Division and partiality are realities in our world. The church is meant to be a place of peace, providing a glimpse of the unity and missional commonality to come in the Kingdom of Heaven.

MCC members will welcome all who earnestly pursue Jesus, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, religious background, or other worldly identifying factors. Being “welcoming” is not the same as being “affirming” of all decisions or identities, but it does mean a posture of love and warmth for those who are different.

MCC members won’t be snobs and won’t play favorites. They will actively work to welcome outsiders and those who are alone (sit by the single person!). They will reflect on the grace of Christ and seek to extend that grace to others. They will ask God to help make them aware of any pride or prejudice in their own hearts, and stamp it out.

Gathering

Physically joining together for worship is essential to discipleship, evangelism, growth, education, formation, and community. The various elements of the worship service - scripture reading, communion, corporate singing, prayer, teaching and preaching, giving - all contribute to the development of the mind and the heart.

MCC members will show up to church! Attendance on Sundays will be the norm, absences will be the exception. Habits shape. The habit of church attendance help shape what type of Jesus-followers MCCers will become.

Caring

At least 23 times in the New Testament, God through his biblical authors commands believers to love and care for one another. The primary opportunity for living out this command is through the church.

MCC members will rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15), bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11) toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24), and be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10). MCC members will also care for those in the Love20 community who are in need. They will act as the hands and feet of Jesus, who not only came teaching, but who also fed the hungry and cared for the sick.

MCC members will be patient and gentle with each other, and work toward peaceful reconciliation of differences, placing the unity of the whole body ahead of personal preferences.

Serving

Followers of Christ are not spectators in a church, but servants of Christ’s church. By God’s great mercy he has bestowed upon all his children spiritual gifts. In urgent anticipation of Jesus’s return, those gifts will be put to work for his glory.

MCC members will contribute to the ministry of the church by serving on the ministry team(s) that most align with their gifting. They will remember that discipleship consists of more than just knowing things, it means living out an active faith that demonstrates the life and light of Christ through good works.

MCC members will seek out ways to serve the church and the other members; they will volunteer, show up on time, and honor their commitments.

Honoring

Every member of God’s flock needs a humble under-shepherd who serves under the Chief Shepherd (Jesus), and such leaders need to be respected (1 Thessalonians 5:12) and followed (Hebrews 13:7). Then a faithful leader is following Jesus and being submissive to his word, then the people of God are to follow this shepherd joyfully.

MCC members will gently and lovingly hold their leaders accountable for faithfulness and fruitfulness and, having found them to be faithful and producing good fruit, will support them through prayer, attendance at events, attentiveness, kindness, encouragement, responding when called to action, and mature engagement.

When criticism is warranted, it will be communicated privately and with measured wisdom.

Witnessing

The data is clear: the vast majority of people who come through the doors of a church for the first time do so because a friend invited them. Evangelism isn’t reserved for pastors and missionaries - it’s the responsibility of all of God’s people. MCC members will engage people in the name of Jesus in the everyday course of life - at work, in the grocery store, across the backyard fence, at the soccer game. They will remember that the most powerful witness isn’t perfectly articulated and rehearsed gospel speeches, but living faithfully and loving well.

MCC members will engage with unbelievers with the long-term purpose of conversion, will invite them to church events, will serve them as an expression of Christ’s love, and will provide them resources - prudently and strategically - that may prompt further opportunities.

Giving

Ever since the founding of the church in the book of Acts, its work has been funded by its members. If the ministry of the church is important, then the members of the church must come together to provide financial resources to build and sustain that ministry. A church is only as healthy as its financial stability. Giving tithes and offerings to the church doesn’t just fund essential gospel work, it’s also spiritually formative for the giver.

MCC members will give a portion of their financial resources back to God, through the church. Through their giving, MCC members will be formed in generosity, will be reminded that our resources are a blessing from God we are to steward, and will be caused to more deeply participate in something bigger than themselves. Kingdom work is only ever possible by the work of the Spirit and the generosity of God’s people.

Prospective MCC members will be encouraged to attend the Basics membership class, embrace the expectations communicated to them for meaningful membership at MCC, and participate in a brief membership interview (conversation, really) where they will be asked to articulate the gospel message.

As has been MCC’s practice for years and insofar as it is feasible, new members may be announced to the congregation. This short ceremony may include the public profession of faith and baptism, depending on the circumstances of that particular membership process.

TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN!
- Pastor Brady

Have a question for Theology Thursday? Send an email to office@minierchristian.org and we'll respond, or we'll include in a future Theology Thursday Buffet.

Posted in Theology Thursdays