Members of one body

Beloved of God,
     I hope you are planning on joining us for BASIC dinner on October 20th. Our MoTR program for children will be “hosting” dinner that evening, and if you have kiddos in tow dinner will be covered and some special activities will follow. If you don’t have children, please come anyway. It will be so good to be together and break bread after a long hiatus. 
    Please be praying as we approach our congregational meeting on October 24th. There has been much work to develop consensus over the last 9 months, and the hope is that we can address the remaining proposals for revision in this meeting in order to vote on them all In a succeeding meeting. Copies of the bylaws including revisions to date will be available this Sunday.
    I mentioned last Sunday that I intend to begin calling for a vote on those who petition for membership on the same day that they come forward and testify about their faith. I want to say a few words about why I think this change is important. 
    Each Sunday as we come to worship, whether we realize it or not, we are participating in a regular meeting of this church as defined by our bylaws:
Meetings for the purpose of worship and ministry are held as scheduled by the pastor and associate pastor(s) in consultation with the church council, the deacons, and/or various ministry leaders.
You will notice that the purpose of these meetings is worship and ministry, which means there is a narrow sense in which Sunday worship is a meeting. But I think that when persons are petitioning to join our church by offering testimony, or by making confession and seeking Baptism, and committing to follow Christ in our company, that is not a business function. That is a ministerial function. I believe that we need not wait, sometimes months at a time, in order for those folks to be received by the fellowship of believers and welcomed into our midst. 
    There is a long-standing paradigm of this practice in Baptist churches, and while each Baptist church is autonomous, I believe this practice accords with the intent of our bylaws. In order to keep faith with you, here is my commitment around this practice as your pastor:

1. I am not going to exceed the express limits of this provision by bringing up business that does not pertain directly to matters of worship and ministry, namely, the petitions of individuals seeking to join us as we follow Christ.
2. As I call us into that moment, I will neither make the motion to receive a member, nor offer a second on such a motion. It will be your responsibility either to receive them or reject them.

 I will tell you that this very Sunday, there are some faithful folks who have been among us for more than six months. They are going to be petitioning this congregation for membership, and I hope you will be praying for them and for this church as we prepare to hear from them. Recall as you do the Apostle Paul’s words about what constitutes a church body. 
 Please join me this week in praying for:

• An end to this pandemic.
• Those among us who are sick, hurt, or suffering in body, mind, or spirit. 
• Those among us facing difficult decisions and new possibilities.
• Doctors, nurses, PA’s, paramedics, and others working to keep us all well.
• Parents in our community who are facing worry as they care for their children.
• First responders as they address emergencies on our roads, in our wildlands, in our towns, and even in our homes.
• In praise for the change in the weather, and the shift of the seasons; they are signs of God’s presence and care for creation.
• Folks among us, and in our community, who are missing someone they lost through the year. 
• Each other (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list).

 You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world,
 Marshall