New Members

Staphlobob · #1 (**permalink**) 05-17-2007, 05:39 PM

Redeemer Christian Congregation now has its first Elder(

)and one of the first things we're going to do is work up a plan for teaching potential new members.

Though our polity is moving towards Presbyterianism the congregation is independent. But we hold firmly to inerrancy and the 5 solas. In particular, the Elder and I subscribe to the WCF and the Doctrines of Grace.

The thing is, a la Dever, we want to make it HARD for people to join, but EASY to leave. This means our "New Member's Classes" will be thorough, disciplined, and solidly Reformed. We will strongly stress an teach the DoG as well as the WCF.

Does anyone have any suggestions for organizing such a study?

Thanks.

larryjf · #2 (**permalink**) 05-17-2007, 07:42 PM

For teaching the WCOF I would highly recommend The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes.
It contains the Confession, exposition, and questions that really help to flesh out what is being learned.

Staphlobob · #3 (**permalink**) 05-18-2007, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larryjf

For teaching the WCOF I would highly recommend The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes.
It contains the Confession, exposition, and questions that really help to flesh out what is being learned.

I was wondering about that one. I've already got a copy of it and used it for an OPC study. Thanks for the lead.

larryjf · #4 (**permalink**) 05-18-2007, 11:21 AM

tcalbrecht · #5 (**permalink**) 05-18-2007, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Staphlobob

Redeemer Christian Congregation now has its first Elder(

)and one of the first things we're going to do is work up a plan for teaching potential new members.

Though our polity is moving towards Presbyterianism the congregation is independent. But we hold firmly to inerrancy and the 5 solas. In particular, the Elder and I subscribe to the WCF and the Doctrines of Grace.

The thing is, a la Dever, we want to make it HARD for people to join, but EASY to leave. This means our "New Member's Classes" will be thorough, disciplined, and solidly Reformed. We will strongly stress an teach the DoG as well as the WCF.

Does anyone have any suggestions for organizing such a study?

Thanks.

I think this approach is precisely backwards from what it ought to be.

Certainly the apostles did not make it difficult for folks to be baptized and identified with the covenant community. All they needed to do was understand the answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved.”

It is the job of the church then to disciple and instruct baptized members that they may grow in grace and their commitment to the local assembly. Then, by that process, we “make it hard” for them to leave the fellowship of God’s people.

IMO part of this problem is mistaken view of some credo-baptists that the visible church and the invisible church ought to be virtually identical in makeup, and, therefore, only “the elect” ought to be baptized and so the church has to do everything in their power to accurately identify “the elect” (an impossible task, btw).

I think Dever has the cart before the horse; ala involved and detailed instruction before baptism.

Staphlobob · #6 (**permalink**) 05-19-2007, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcalbrecht

I think this approach is precisely backwards from what it ought to be.

Certainly the apostles did not make it difficult for folks to be baptized and identified with the covenant community. All they needed to do was understand the answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved.”

It is the job of the church then to disciple and instruct baptized members that they may grow in grace and their commitment to the local assembly. Then, by that process, we “make it hard” for them to leave the fellowship of God’s people.

IMO part of this problem is mistaken view of some credo-baptists that the visible church and the invisible church ought to be virtually identical in makeup, and, therefore, only “the elect” ought to be baptized and so the church has to do everything in their power to accurately identify “the elect” (an impossible task, btw).

I think Dever has the cart before the horse; ala involved and detailed instruction before baptism.

I think I understand what you’re saying, but perhaps we have a misunderstanding of terms.

My concern – and Dever’s – is that the church is so desirous of numerical growth that it has become extremely sloppy in deciding who gets to join. I think we would all agree regarding the practice of the apostles, and you hit the nail on the head when you noted the entry question. You see, there’s no evidence that the apostles ever knowing allowed any unbeliever to join. And that’s precisely the point … believers – and only believers, as far as they could tell - were allowed to become members of the local congregation.

As for leaving the church, Ananias and Sapphira died for simply lying. Later on Paul was extremely upset because the Corinthians were allowing sexual immorality to occur and refusing to practice the discipline of excommunication. What we see in the Bible is not simply an easy-to-leave church, but unbelievers and the worldly being pushed out the door!

As a paedo-baptist myself, what I’ve faced - countless times - were longtime, and totally fruitless members who nonetheless claim to be Christian simply because they were baptized. Their names were on the roles, they occasionally showed up for a service (usually Christmas and Easter), but never a Bible study or prayer meeting, and their lives were indistinguishable from the world. Yet it was impossible to instruct them, much less discipline or remove them from the roles, because of the laxity in church doctrine. Thus, according to the church's own standards, they had a "right" to the sacraments and all pastoral services.

When it comes to guarding the entry gate to the church the idea is not to have potential members become theologians able to distinguish between infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism (and they’d best choose which is right!). Rather the idea is that pastors and elders be faithful to biblical imperatives and so do our best to insure that only believers are allowed through the front door. The idea is not to eschew the notion of spiritual growth, education, care, support, etc., but to guard against cheap grace. The church is to be separate from the world and there is a need to insure that we maintain that biblical standard.

I pray we have a more common understanding.