A New Approach to Membership: Embracing Community at Trinity
A Time of Growth and Togetherness
God is moving in the churches of Red Deer! We've had an amazing few weeks at Trinity Church! An excellent Commission conference, the early beginnings of a kids ministry, a growing worship team, and a growing sense of community and ownership. Most importantly, we’ve sensed God speaking in powerful ways. As we continue to witness these incredible things happening, it’s essential to harness this momentum and work together to build a church that reflects the values and vision the Bible calls us to and ultimately, brings honour and glory to God.
The Challenges of Pastoral Care and Discipleship
Despite the positive developments, we recognize that our pastoral care and discipleship processes could be stronger. It can be challenging to know who considers Trinity their church family and who is just visiting. We feel we could do better in terms of building unity, loving people well, and going on a journey of discipleship together.
Our previous approach to membership has been this: if you attend regularly and give, you are a member.
But what does “regularly” mean? What if someone isn’t able to attend regularly for work reasons? What about people who are homeless or out of work and aren’t able to give? What if as a leadership, we consider someone a member, but they don’t consider themselves a member?
These are difficult questions.
As a leadership team, we’ve pondered them for close to 18 months.
After much prayer, study, and discussion, we're excited to announce a new approach to membership.
Redefining Membership at Trinity
Membership at Trinity is a heartfelt commitment to the people, vision, values, culture, and leadership of our church.
We understand that the global Church has greatly abused the concept of church membership and recognize that there might be some negative associations with the term. Our passion is to avoid rigid, legalistic processes - these are usually the result of going further than the Bible calls believers to. Instead, our passion is to create an environment where the bar is set where the Bible alone places it.
For example, we won’t be running long membership courses. There won’t be long application processes. The entire process is based on relationship and conversation rather than unnecessary rules and rigidity.
In fact, to become a member, we ask for three simple commitments:
Be a committed follower of Jesus.
Agree with Trinity's core doctrines and submit to the secondary doctrines.
Help build and maintain a biblical culture of discipleship by encouraging and building those around you.
If you can agree to those commitments, then membership just might be for you.
Why Become a Member?
Let me first say this: unless you are in certain leadership positions, you are not required to become a member. You will still be just as welcome at Trinity and will probably hardly notice a difference!
But while you don't have to become a member, there are benefits to doing so. Membership helps us grow in our intentionality with discipleship, ensures that those in certain leadership positions share our values, and allows you to participate in our Annual General Meetings starting in 2024.
Our prayer is that most importantly, membership will help us to love one another better. That’s it.
Here’s an example page from our membership booklet. It’s more like a magazine than a legal document!
The Membership Process
If you're interested in becoming a member, the process is simple:
Talk to someone from our leadership team about membership.
Take a look at our shiny new, mercifully short (and colourful) membership booklet.
An elder will meet with you over a meal to have a conversation about your journey, calling, and passions. You’ll also discuss Trinity’s vision and values together - this is a great time to ask questions!
If you’d still like to become a member, you’ll sign a one-page membership form (seriously, it will take you less than a minute to complete), and after the eldership's prayerful consideration and agreement, you'll become a member!
We believe that this straightforward approach to membership will strengthen our church community and help us continue to grow in our pursuit of seeing Jesus, serving Jesus, and sharing Jesus.
If you have any questions or concerns about membership (we’re sure you will), please don't hesitate to reach out. We're here to support you on your faith journey, and we're excited to see what God has in store for Trinity Church!
