Church as Family 2 - Members

In our second installment of a series on what it means for church to be a family - not a charity, club, or corporation - we look at the idea of formal church membership. While history will show that the One Church through the ages was formally organized into many churches, with lists and covenants and such, it would be hard to make a legalistic sort of case for it from the Bible itself. Pastor Trevor shares his personal journey from great cynicism to advocacy. Since the Bible uses the word "member" almost exclusively to mean "one in body" or "one in family," he draws on the parallels of marriage and parenthood. Church attenders are courting a church; members have entered a covenant, with all the give and take that goes with it. Church attenders are foster children; members are fully adopted, both choosing and chosen by their local church.