Church Membership
Currently, my husband and I co-pastor a new church plant in our neighboring community
Plumas Lake. We had been part of the mother church for 6 years as volunteers and lay ministry
leaders until my husband took a part time role as a High School Youth Pastor which eventually
led to Associate and now a Lead Pastor. In this capacity, I preach occasionally, organize and plan
Children’s Ministry, lead our Women’s Ministry and am starting and co-leading a mom’s group
during the week under the MomCo umbrella. We are faithful tithers, offer our home and time for
counseling, host church family dinners, setup and tear down Sunday service each week and
organize community outreach events for our youth and congregants to get their hands dirty in the
name of Jesus.
Over the years, as our children have grown up, we have seen small ebbs and flows in our
availability and willingness to sacrifice time and energy for the church. When we were new
believers we attended every single event, lead table groups for mid-week meetups and attended
the quarterly retreats and conferences to grow our head knowledge and stoke our fires. As our
girls have gotten older and their extracurriculars have gotten more demanding, I prioritize my
time differently to be present for our kids while my husband spreads himself thinner to meet the
needs of our congregation while I serve our household during the week. This current season is an
all-hands-on deck season and although my schedule is full of church commitments and service
my heart is slightly hollow with all the responsibilities and juggling the demands.
Church Membership Book Analysis
After reading Leeman’s book, I feel the most convicting segments of the text include the
eight ways to submit to a local church. This might be specific to the church planting season we
are in and the urgency we aim to instill in our congregation of newer believers. Submission is a
four-letter word in culture today and unfortunately that bleeds into the pulse of the church even
as more mature or active members slightly cringe when Christians use the word submit and the
expectations we bring to the word. The eight ways specifically mentioned convicted me to check
my own actions and attitude regarding my own spirit and how I am personally submitting to
Christ and the church as a follower not as the pastor or leader. When reading I was asking myself
if I was doing the same things: publicly stating my commitment to my local church. Am I
sharing my church with others? Inviting others? Treating my church like my home not a rental,
with minimal investment?
The physical/geographical submission stung significantly as we planted a church 20 mins
from our home church and current residence despite our initial desire to move to be in the mix of
the families we serve. Logistically and financially, we are not able to double our mortgage and
subject ourselves to current interest rates so instead we drive back and forth time and time again.
We would love to make the move however we are equally being responsible adults and
stewarding what God has provided. The logical side of the coin does not erase or diminish the
value I see in submitting to the local church and intentionally being in a place and maybe the
layout of your home to accommodate a small group or host meals to be a priority for believers.
Socially submitted is a personal conviction of mine and something I urge our
congregation to find is a small circle of friends within the church that you elect to do life with.
Birthday parties, making meals for new parents, cleaning each other's houses before the holidays,
crying together, attending school functions together etc. Entrusting your day-to-day life to other
believers that know you both on Sundays at your best and days at your worst that will point you
back to Jesus when you think the cloud is too dark.
Lastly, vocational submission is very hard in today’s corporate ladder climbing culture.
Helping our church to understand their own calling to make disciples and share the Good News
with their families, friends, and workplaces is much harder than I ever expected. Western
Americans are very reserved about connecting their faith and their workplaces and it shows. We
have spent the last few months in the book of Ephesians talking about callings, and gifts and
spiritual blessings and just now eleven weeks into the book are heads starting to nod and
conversations being shared about what this might look like in our workplaces and Monday
through Saturday.
Embrace the Awkward
In this week's video, they embrace the awkward moment for the families that intentionally chose
to become friends, meet and then pray together very much mirrored what my friend group looked
like in the previous 10 years. These families mentioned in the video, sought out each other as
believers they respected in their parenting and walk with Jesus and despite the awkward prayer
moments and forced conversations they pushed past for the purpose of growth. As a newish
believer I found moms in my same season of life and asked them if they wanted to be friends, we
all agreed and for 10 years, six women, six men and twenty six children collectively gathered
weekly to share a meal, study the word, support school events and walk with each other with our
faces pointed to the cross.
In the current season, we no longer meet regularly with this specific group as they are
part of our home church and geographically on the other side of town however, we have started
to recreate this with our core group of leaders and volunteers as we have seen the fruit of this
type of relationship for years. The benefits of embracing the awkward and leaning into what God
has for you through the relationships you will build far outweighs the small moments of getting
to know each other and asking the same pleasantries for a few weeks.
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