Ask FGBC #37: Why join a church?

Jim Butler

Church membership is not optional for the Christian: Scripture commands gathering together, pastoral ministry presupposes a definable flock, and the means of grace — preaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper, mutual accountability, and church discipline — are administered within the bounds of a local, covenanted congregation. The question of why one should formally join a church is answered first by the authority of God's command, and then by the necessarily local character of the duties owed between members and their pastors. Those who have been hurt by church abuse are exhorted not to abandon the institution but to find a congregation where they can commit themselves as members.