Topic category: Religion & Philosophy in the News
Are Church Membership Requirements Exceedingly Intrusive?
In a church membership class posted on SermonAudio, those in attendance for the proceedings were required from the sound of it to fill in a seating chart of those around them each week supposedly for the purposes of learning the names of the fellow students.
If Independent Baptists insist that their practices are derived from sola scriptura, where is the precedent for the described classroom procedure described in the pages of Holy Writ?
If a church requires such rigmarole, doesn't the church run the risk of alienating those with social anxiety?
For I know I'd go running out of there at the end of the class like Chiroptera fleeing Ghenna.
Some churches require potential members to endure lengthy interrogations and questionnaires that go beyond determining whether or not the catechumen ascents to the basics of the Apostles or Nicene Creeds before being granted that particular status.
If failure to answer in the preapproved manner will result in a denial of membership, what is to prevent the applicant from simply answering in the manner that the leadership expects to hear?
For example, is it really the business of a Christian school administrator whether or not your child has a TV in their room in the privacy of your own home.
Furthermore, who can blame these applicants for fudging their answers when across Christendom the believer is berated and beaten over the head homiletically on a regular basis if one is just an attender and not necessarily a formalized member?
By Frederick Meekins
Frederick Meekins
Issachar Bible Church & Apologetics Research Institute
Biography - Frederick Meekins
Frederick Meekins is an independent theologian and social critic. Frederick holds a BS in Political Science/History, a MA in Apologetics/Christian Philosophy from Trinity Theological Seminary, and a PhD. in Christian Apologetics from Newburgh Theological Seminary.