Why Membership Still Matters (And Why It’s Different Here)

It’s Holy Week as I write this, but you will read it during my traditional week-after-Easter vacation. I have just finished writing the worship service for April 26th—when we will welcome three new members into the life of St. Paul, and I am sitting in my office on a gloomy and rainy Maundy Thursday, and all I can do is smile.

My smile has nothing to do with adding names to a roll or our community getting bigger. I’m smiling because our community is growing in some quiet and beautiful ways—through people who are choosing to tie their lives to one another on purpose.

That’s what membership is all about at St. Paul. It is not a special perk and it does not carry a privileged status. It does not come with a fast pass to anything. Membership at St. Paul is a responsibility.

At St. Paul, membership doesn’t give you special benefits that others don’t have. Members don’t get better access to God. Members don’t get a reserved seat anywhere, and they don’t get to matter more than anyone else who walks through the door.

What members get is a promise to keep. And people who will keep one with you. Because at the center of our life together is covenant.

Covenant is one of those church words that can sound old-fashioned, but the idea is simple. It means we choose to belong to one another. We agree to show up for each other. We commit to doing the work of love together—even when it’s inconvenient, even when it’s hard, even when life gets messy.

In the United Church of Christ, covenant isn’t just a nice idea. It’s the backbone of how we function. We don’t have a hierarchy telling us what to believe. We don’t have a single creed that determines who is in and who is out. Instead, we have relationships.

Our polity—how we organize ourselves—is built on mutual promises. Congregations covenant with one another. Pastors covenant with congregations. Members covenant with the church. And all of us covenant with God. That means belonging here is never about perfect belief. It’s about shared commitment.

The United Church of Christ has long said that we are not a creedal people. That doesn’t mean we ignore the creeds or throw them away. It means we understand them for what they are: testimonies of faith, written by people trying to describe their experience of God in a particular time and place. The creeds are stories. They are witnesses. They are not tests.

No one joins this church because they passed a theology exam. People join because they are ready to practice faith alongside others—serving, learning, growing, and sometimes stumbling their way forward together.

That’s why, when someone becomes a member of St. Paul, the question isn’t:  Do you believe all the right things? The question is: Are you willing to live this life with us? Are you willing—with the help of God—to support the mission and vision of this congregation? Are you willing to share your gifts? Are you willing to stand with this community as we try to love our neighbors, seek justice, and care for one another in a world that often feels fractured and tired?

Membership is not about having faith all figured out. Membership is about saying yes to the work of belonging.

And in a time when so much of life feels disposable—relationships, institutions, commitments—there is something quietly radical about choosing to stay. Choosing to invest. Choosing to be accountable to one another.

That’s what we’re going to celebrate on April 26th. Not perfection. Not certainty. Not numbers. Commitment.

Three people will stand before this congregation and say, in their own way:  I want to be part of this. I want to help carry this community forward. I want to live this faith alongside you.

And the congregation will respond with a promise of our own. Because covenant always goes both ways. We will promise to welcome them. To support them. To walk with them. To keep building this community together—with the help of God.

That’s membership at St. Paul–not a privilege, but a promise. And truly? It still makes me smile. Hope to see you on the 26th!

On this shared journey with you,
Pr. Melissa

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