This past Sunday we hosted Class 101: Discovering Membership at James Island Baptist. Think about this: we have those who will give us four hours of a Sunday afternoon to attend a seminar about membership at JIBC. I consider that a most wonderful gift and I do my absolute best to make sure there is an informative, inspiring picture of what it means to be a member of JIBC.
By the way, welcome to our newest members: Jean Elliott, Babbie Mangum, Todd Jordan, Sara and Josh Bell. I am so excited about these that our Father has added to our church family. I can’t wait to see how our Father will use them to help build His Kingdom and how our church family will love them.
So, what is it we do at Class 101: Discovering Membership? What are we trying to accomplish? Think with me about all the different backgrounds from which people could come from: north/south; Baptist/non-Baptist; different kinds of Baptist; traditional church/contemporary church; absolutely no church background; Pastor led/leader led/ deacon led/unofficial parking lot group led; from a church that split; from a new mission church; from an old ancient church; married, single, kids, no kids, wonderful beautiful grandchildren (ok that was just for me!); multiple generations/all the same basic age group. Get the picture. We come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. How do you get all these on the same page? My best effort has been our Class 101: Discovering Membership at James Island Baptist. This is an opportunity to help those who are interested to “look under the hood and kick the tires” as we used to say. They can meet with the pastor and hear about the DNA of the church. During Class 101 we talk about what we believe and why we are organized in the way we are. Not everyone who attends shares the same vision of how we do church. That is the point. Those who don’t share the vision have an opportunity to bail out before any commitment are made. Those who see and share the vision are able to join the church family, right then, right there. They don’t have to walk down an aisle or be voted on by a group of people they don’t know. What a frightening experience. Walking down an aisle to join a church is not a bad thing. It is not, however, your public profession of faith. Your public profession of faith is what you do in public, every day, at work, at school or at play. That was just one way of joining the church. It is by far, not the only way. During Class 101 we go over what the Bible requires of members and we make it a part of who we are at JIBC. Those who join have already made a pretty good statement about their willingness by attending a four hour seminar on church membership at JIBC.
I am so privileged to have taken over 200 precious souls through our membership class. It is one of the most considerable first steps toward making disciples who make disciples that change the world.
Welcome to the family Jean, Todd, Babbie, Sara and Josh!
Pastor Tom
