Membership requirements

4 thoughts on “Membership requirements”

  1. No. I cannot see such a message posted on our parish bulletin. “All are welcome” is all we have to say and allow Word and Sacrament to take the person from there. If the individual is there with a truly open heart and mind, excellent celebration and preaching should take him or her to the next level and beyond – which is to say that those who plan and prepare for liturgical celebration have a major responsibility for doing it right. Who knows, though? Scripture, sacrament, and Holy Spirit alone can probably do it all in spite of the worst efforts of the laziest among us.

  2. Charles Hodges

    The only requirement for “church membership” is to believe into Christ, the Son of the Living God. It is unfortunate that we still look at “church membership” in the same way we view membership in the local “country club”. Tragic!

    RCIA is not a ritual for joining or membership into the Catholic Church. It is a process of conversion and metabolic change that never ends, but has its beginning in RCIA.

    One does not “join” the church. They receive it as they receive Christ.

  3. I agree that the main requirement is certainly to believe in Christ, but research (by the Gallup organization) has shown that only when people know what is expected of them do they become fully “engaged” in their church – actively living the faith and participating in the life of the community. What Nick suggests is exactly what the Engaged Church people recommend. Being an “engaged” Catholic is more than just “being.” It is “doing” as well as high ownership. Take a look at the book “Growing an Engaged Church” by Albert L. Winseman for more on this.

    http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Engaged-Church-Doing-Start/dp/1595620141

  4. Hi Joyce, thanks for chiming in. It wasn’t so much me, as it was the Concord Pastor who was suggesting a bumped up level of engagement. I do mostly agree with him, however. If I were going to suggest for areas of engagement to list in the bulletin or the Web site, I think I’d base them on RCIA 75: word, community, worship, and service.

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