Solemn membership

Lately it seems as though our congregation should bookmark number 794 in Hymnal: A Worship Book — the responsive reading for reception of new members. Welcoming four new members in the past two weeks has brought the idea of membership to the forefront.

Until recently, I never noticed the solemn tone to this joyful event or weightiness of the promises made when new members are received. This is likely in part because of my Lutheran upbringing and in part because I still fall into the often-transient group known as young adults.

Each new member shared a brief testimony about how his or her path has lead to Chicago Community Mennonite Church. All of the statements included the desire to be part of a community of believers. Then the new members and the church family made vows of commitment to one another — to offer and receive counsel, to hold one another accountable and to be joined in fellowship, worship and service.

But, even after the serious promises that were made, it is difficult to see what changed.

The four new members are certainly not strangers to the community. They have each been full participants in the life of the congregation for months. They were already offering their unique gifts to enrich our community through committees, in worship and through service projects. A mutual exchange of support between the church body and these individuals has already been happening. The same is true of other regular attendees who are not members in our congregation.

So what, then, is the importance of membership? Why do we make such earnest promises?

Perhaps so that the new members can know they are truly accepted as they are. Or so the new members know that they have companions in attempting to follow the ways of Jesus. Or so that the community knows that these individuals who have become a part of the fabric of the congregation plan to stay around for a while, continuing to contribute their gifts.

Perhaps membership is a promise to community itself. Through the process each member commits to being the community for which he or she longs.