What is church membership, how does someone become a member of CCC and why do we have a membership list? Those are the three questions this blog is looking to answer.
Church membership – Two options… and a third!
When it comes to church membership there seem to be two main options out there. Briefly, and please forgive some generalisation, they can be summarised as follows:
- A defined membership list
If someone wants to become a member, they do membership classes, have an interview with an elder and then go on the membership list. There are then certain responsibilities expected of them and benefits they receive from being a church member. The positives of this option are that members are clearly defined, empowered and held responsible.
The potential drawbacks of this position is that the focus can become ‘who is on the list?’ rather than ‘who is actively participating in church life?’ and, at its worst, ‘the list’ doesn’t reflect who is actually in the church – i.e. there are people on ‘the list’ who are not really participants in the church (taking communion, serving, being held accountable, sharing their lives with others, attending etc) whilst there can be people not on ‘the list’ who are doing all those things. So ‘the official members’ are those on ‘a list’ whilst the people actually turning up and investing in the community are ‘not on the list’.
Additionally, as mentioned in our paper on church membership, baptism and communion are the New Testament means of joining and remaining within Jesus’ church (more on that later). Lists are for administrative reasons.
- No definition of membership
Membership is not spoken of in church life, and there is no definition brought to what belonging to a local church means. So the church members are those who ‘turn up, participate and act like a church member’ (taking communion, serving, being held accountable, sharing their lives with others, attending etc). The positives of this position is that the emphasis is on the active and continuing participation of the members, not whether they are on a list.
The potential drawbacks of this position is that a consumer attitude to church life may remain unchallenged. People can ‘opt in’ for as long and as much as they want, but may not have considered and counted the cost of serving Jesus and his people in a local congregation. It can be “church on my terms” rather than “church as a covenant community”. Additionally, since the members are not defined, church members are not sure who they are committing to in the family – whether to serve, care for and build long-term spiritual friendships with, or to hold accountable in their walk with Jesus and the shared mission of the church.
In summary:
- Option 1 – it’s clear, but can end up not reflecting the reality of church life
- Option 2 – it’s focused on the reality of church life, but can end up unclear.
In CCC we are going for a third option, trying to take the best and avoid the pitfalls of options 1 and 2.
- Membership is about active participation in church life, and the members list serves an administrative function
In CCC we want membership to (a) be clear and (b) reflect the reality of the church. We also want to keep the focus on relationships, rather than a list. To help us with that, we focus our church membership around baptism and communion.
At Belong we say the following:
We see from the New Testament that the waters of baptism are the way you join God’s global church (you’re united to Christ), and the bread and the wine are the way you remain within God’s people (through communion with Christ). So baptism is the way you join the church, and communion is the way you belong to the church.
There is one body because, as Paul says, we all share in one baptism (Ephesians 4:3-4). In communion, though we are many, we are one body, for we all share the one loaf (1 Corinthians 10:17).
With this in mind, as outlined in our original paper on church membership we follow the reasoning put forward by Tim Chester in his book called ‘Truth you can touch’; regarding church membership:
There are legal and practical reasons why many churches have a formal membership list. But you do not become a member of the church when your name is added to a list. The list will simply be an administrative and legal convenience. You become a member of the [global] church when you are baptised.
Please do read our original paper for more on this, especially the Q&A section – which addresses a number of questions around baptism and communion.
Becoming a member in Christ City Church
To become a member in CCC there are a number of steps for people to take (the steps may not necessarily be in this exact order);
Firstly – Baptism. You become a member of the global church through baptism, whether that is in CCC or a previous church. If someone wants to become a CCC church member and is not baptised, that is the first step to take.
For those that are baptised, then…
Secondly – Communion. Once you start taking communion regularly in CCC you are identifying yourself with Christ and his church. As Tim Chester says:
If you are moving to another city and you have already been baptised, then you start being part of a new church when you start taking communion, because communion is how we express our ongoing belonging to the church.
Thirdly – Connect. To help new people in CCC understand the vision, values, doctrine and leadership of CCC we invite people to come to Connect – where we reflect on God’s view of the church from the scriptures, and help people consider next steps to belong in CCC.
Fourthly – Participation. This is mainly in four ways – through coming on a Sunday, participating in a City Group, serving in some practical way (typically on a Sunday but not always) and taking communion regularly. Of course different seasons and particular reasons may prevent all of those happening with the regularity that someone would want, but that is what ‘active participation in church life’ generally looks like.
Fifthly – Belong. Once someone has been participating regularly in CCC and expressing an ongoing desire to remain, we invite them to attend Belong – where we outline our model of church membership and what it means for church to be a family with benefits and responsibilities. We list those as: loving shepherding; personal growth; caring community; effective mission; and careful church discipline. You can read the booklet here.
Sixthly – Renew. Once a year we invite all church members to participate in Renew, which is normally on the first and second Sundays in September. Renew is a time for personal and corporate renewal, where we commit afresh to God, to one another and to serving God’s missional purposes in the city. Tim Chester helpfully puts it like this:
“Every Lord’s Supper is a covenant-renewal ceremony… but it might be helpful to have an annual communion service in which covenant renewal is the main focus, a chance to recommit to be members of the church.
We remember our covenant commitments, not just recalling that they exist but recommitting ourselves to those commitments.”
Whilst it may not be a linear process as outlined above, these are the six things that need to be in place for someone to become a member, and express ongoing membership, in Christ City Church.
Why do we have a membership list?
In September 2025, for the first time, we are giving more clarity to our church polity (including leadership structures, appointments, accountability), and as part of that we’re introducing a members list. As mentioned above, this is for administrative purposes.
One of the administrative purposes of the list will mean we can involve church members in leadership appointments – both to create greater ownership in the church to their leaders, and greater accountability of the leaders to the church. As mentioned on page 6 of our church polity document
4-6 weeks before the appointment of a person to any of the following teams – eldership, leadership, congregation, deacon – all current church members will be emailed to join in prayer as we come up to their appointment. During this time, we also open an opportunity (via email or in person) to raise any concerns or questions regarding the proposed leader. This will also happen for the appointment of chair of trustees and treasurer.
There may be other administrative reasons that the members list will be helpful going forward. For example in caring for those in need within the church family – Paul talks about similar lists in 1 Timothy 3 when the church in Ephesus was organising themselves to care for the older and younger widows – see 1 Timothy 5:3-16.
You may have questions you may have about the members list. Here are a few, but if you have others please talk to one of the elders or other leaders.
A. Will people be told that they are going on this list?
To existing CCC members – this is what this blog post is partly helping with. So if someone has done Belong and is participating in church life as outlined above we presume them to be a church member.
For new CCC members – at the end of Belong we’ll say the following
“Now that you have done Belong and understood what church membership means in CCC, you are now considered a church member at CCC and will be added to our members list.
If you do not yet consider yourself a member please let us know and we can arrange a conversation to understand any concerns or reservations you have.”
B. What if I am not on the list but I should be?
If you’re not on the list and expected to be, please forgive any administrative error and make yourself known to admin@christcitychurch.ie.
C. What if I am on the list but want to come off?
If you’re on the list and want to come off please contact admin@christcitychurch.ie. You may also want to talk to one of the elders or other leaders about why you’re coming off the membership list.
D. What if I have questions or concerns about church membership?
Please do get in contact with someone from one of the following teams – congregation, leadership or eldership.