If you’d like to keep up with the discussion from “Exploring the Future Church: an open discussion on what it means to be in a faith community” you can download the notes here: Session 1 Handout (.doc file)

Big Takeaway from Session 1: We had some significant discussion around the question, “Does church membership matter anymore?” We noted that the idea of “membership” has evolved from what it once was because people’s social needs have changed. One difficulty is that church membership rolls are never accurate. Some people will become a “member” of a church, but never participate or develop relationships. On the other hand, some people are highly engaged in the life and ministry of the church, but never officially become a “member.” Regardless of where people stand in their “membership,” it is essential that everyone feel welcome and invited. The conclusion the group came to was that “membership” as it has been known and experienced in most churches does not matter anymore. What does matter is “belonging to a community.”

Our future sessions will continue to explore this idea of how to encourage people to belong to our community.