January 22, Membership
If you've ever worshiped with us at 5 Point you know I don't say much about membership. The reasoning behind this, I can't find church membership in the Bible. I've really been thinking through this lately. I had lunch today with Pastor Greg of Foothills Community Church located in Seneca. God is all over this church and lives are being changed weekly. Greg and a group of 17 people started Foothills ten years ago and this May they'll be in their new building. They've grown form 17 to over 1,500 on a regular basis. So thought I'd listen to what he had to say about church growth.
During the course of the conversation he asked about our attender/member ratio. We have anywhere from 400 - 450 people attending weekly. We only have 100 members. Greg's response, "that's a little low." I explained my thoughts on church membership and he agreed completely. But one thing Greg said that does make a lot of sense is that members have bought into the vision of the church. They feel as if 5 Point is their church. They have a desire to serve, give and take part of God's plan for 5 Point. That hit me square between the eyes.
I had already made plans to speak with Gary Lamb (Pastor of Revolution Church in Canton, Ga.) this afternoon and out of nowhere he asked me how we did our membership. He shared with me that when they hit 500 they sort of plateaued. I explained that is exactly where we are. To help with this they began offering and encouraging people to join and take a more active role in their church. They offered their membership class on Friday nights. Gary challenged the men to get child care and take their wives out for dinner and then meet for the class. The church provided awesome desserts and coffee. Memebership exploded and it took their church to another level. Revolution is the same age as we are and they have been over 1,000 the past two weeks.
Here are my thoughts. Spoke with two pastors today and both brought up membership, not me. I've been thinking about membership a lot lately. Could it be that God is trying to get my attention? Could it be that men with much larger churches know a GREAT deal more than myself? I'm thinking yes.
I'm going to truly seek God's will about this evening and tomorrow. But right now, I'm thinking we'll be asking people to begin stepping up and taking ownership in 5 Point if they consider us their home church. Not everyone is ready for this type commitment and I completely understand that. But for those who are, it's time to step up to the plate.
During the course of the conversation he asked about our attender/member ratio. We have anywhere from 400 - 450 people attending weekly. We only have 100 members. Greg's response, "that's a little low." I explained my thoughts on church membership and he agreed completely. But one thing Greg said that does make a lot of sense is that members have bought into the vision of the church. They feel as if 5 Point is their church. They have a desire to serve, give and take part of God's plan for 5 Point. That hit me square between the eyes.
I had already made plans to speak with Gary Lamb (Pastor of Revolution Church in Canton, Ga.) this afternoon and out of nowhere he asked me how we did our membership. He shared with me that when they hit 500 they sort of plateaued. I explained that is exactly where we are. To help with this they began offering and encouraging people to join and take a more active role in their church. They offered their membership class on Friday nights. Gary challenged the men to get child care and take their wives out for dinner and then meet for the class. The church provided awesome desserts and coffee. Memebership exploded and it took their church to another level. Revolution is the same age as we are and they have been over 1,000 the past two weeks.
Here are my thoughts. Spoke with two pastors today and both brought up membership, not me. I've been thinking about membership a lot lately. Could it be that God is trying to get my attention? Could it be that men with much larger churches know a GREAT deal more than myself? I'm thinking yes.
I'm going to truly seek God's will about this evening and tomorrow. But right now, I'm thinking we'll be asking people to begin stepping up and taking ownership in 5 Point if they consider us their home church. Not everyone is ready for this type commitment and I completely understand that. But for those who are, it's time to step up to the plate.
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