Annual Church Meeting 29th April 2012

[Errol Moo]

Heya!

This Sunday is the Annual Church Meeting where the church leadership will give an accounting to members in our roles as stewards and shepherds. We will also be asked to make certain decisions that will have a profound impact on the direction of the church. 

ie, last year church members voted to embark on a project to work with Kuo Chuan Secondary School to proclaim Christ to the community there. We also decided that we want to be registered as an independent entity with the Singapore Registry of Societies. Up until that point we have always been a subsidiary of Princept Street Presbyterian Church (albeit only in name).

The meeting will be at 11:00am at the sanctuary.

The 11:30 service will now start at 1:30pm

We need help to run the children's program while the members are attending the meeting.

And this brings me to the point about church membership. 

Church membership is how we tell the local body of Christ "I love ya'all!"

1. It is an act of commitment - I wanna be part of this tribe/family/gang/hood, now give me my gang tattoo.

2. It is an act of submission -  the guys with the biggest tattoos now have authority over me in teaching, caring and even in loving discipline.

3. It is an act of encouragement - Look there are so many of us and these tattoos are like, so awesome!

Membership is a bind. There is no question about it. But it binds, not as a means of enslavement, but as a means of achieving an objective. Paul instructed us to stand as one man to contend for the gospel. Phil 1:27 NIV. He may have been alluding to the martial practice of soldiers locking their shields together in formation just before the battle lines clash. (movie ref Alexander, Troy, 300, HBO Rome). While it certainly meant that each man now had a lesser degree of freedom, the probability of them achieving victory was multiplied several hundredfold.

Church membership is how we engage the world

A church with 2000 members will be a body to be reckoned with as opposed to a church with 50.

Most civic and private institutions that we deal with will invariably regard us by our church membership rolls, not by the number of weekly attendants. This could mean the difference between obtaining a loan from the banks, the blessings of the local authorities and the cooperation of non-profit organisations to build a community center at Bishan... for example.

And when we are invited to make a comment that may shape societal values (to the Glory of God), the words of a pastor of a 2000 member church will likely resound more loudly.

Without the mandate of the church community, we risk creating disunity when making our decisions.

Currently, we have approximately 850 people on the church membership roll. But the actual number of people who are part of the ARPC community is closer to 1500 based on the approximate weekly attendance.

That means that nearly half the community are not members who can voice their consent or dissent on major church decisions during the ACMs.

At the ACM, our elected church leaders take pains to explain the situation before putting the motion to a vote. So while we may get a mandate from the 850 people who have heard clearly the explanation and have had the opportunity to voice their feedback, one has to consider also that the same sentiments may not be shared by those who were not privy to the process leading up to the decision. People will mutter amongst themselves, discreetly criticize/question the leadership, not to the leaders, but to one another, eroding confidence in the elected leaders.

An equally pertinent question though is this: Why are we resistant to the idea of registering as a member of the church? Most of us have no problems being a member of a club like SAFRA, or registering with NGOs like World Wild Life Fund, or some other liberal/noble social cause.

Do we have doubts about the authenticity of this particular body of Christ?
Or do we like the idea of contribution without commitment?

To the last question, I will share my personal story and end on this note.

The last church that I actively attended was Church of Praise. I was there from 1991 to 2000 when I left for Melbourne. During those 8 years there I served as a youth leader, worship/song leader and was even part of the Pastor's personal prayer team. I was in church 4 days a week and was intimate with the staff, pastors and leaders. But every time I was invited to transfer my membership to CP, I refused.

My reason, on hindsight, was silly and self-serving. I wanted to show off to the other members that I was doing more than them. To shame them into putting more effort into God's work. It wasn't about glorifying God, it was about me.