Membership At All Saints

Jesus said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.   (Luke 10:2)

Would you like to be a member of All Saints??

Maybe you already are…

Often, people have questions about formal membership at All Saints – what that means, and how one goes about it.

This section is an attempt to answer those questions and to provide accurate information about membership in the Episcopal Church, in general — and All Saints, in particular.

Formal membership aside for a moment, we need to stress the one central fact of the All Saints Community:  

We are grateful to God for your presence in our congregation.   Please know that you are welcome here at All Saints to participate in whatever way you feel called by God. 

For more information about formal membership, please read on.

Being a Christian

Membership in the church is conferred by the rite of Christian Initiation (Baptism.)   If you are a baptized Christian, you are by definition a member of Christ’s body, the church.

Being an Episcopalian

In the very broadest sense, if you are on the church’s membership list, you are a member.   In the Episcopal Church we have“baptized members,” that is, members who are on the church’s rolls, who participate in worship, and who support the church’s work and ministry.   We also have “Adult Confirmed Communicants,” that is, persons who have been received into the church by a Bishop of the Episcopal Church, either by the rite of Confirmation, or if already confirmed in another tradition, Reception.

Baptized Members

Are eligible to receive communion and to take part in the life, worship, and ministry of the church.     However to be a part of the leadership of a congregation –  to represent a congregation in the larger church – or to take part in licensed ministries of the congregation, members need to be adult confirmed communicants.

Adult Confirmed Communicants

  • Must be 16 years of age
  • Must have been confirmed in the Episcopal Church (or if confirmed in another denomination, then received into the church.)

To remain in “good standing,” Adult confirmed communicants:

  • Must participate regularly in the sacraments and ministry of the church
  • Must support the work of the church with their time, talent and money.  (Book of Common Prayer Pg. 856)

Adult confirmed communicants in good standing are:

  • Eligible to vote in congregational meetings.
  • Eligible to hold church office and engage in licensed ministries.
  • Eligible for election to positions in the larger church. (The diocese or national church)
  • Eligible to seek ordination, should they be so called.

Being a Member of a Congregation.

A congregation usually keeps two lists which are most relevant:

A working list of all members, which is the one most often referred to for communication and ministry needs.   That list is adjusted from time to time as circumstances dictate, usually by the clergy or  the parish staff to whom that job is delegated.

As well a parish keeps a list of adult confirmed communicants, which is a more formal list.

Additions are made:

  • When someone is confirmed
  • When someone is received from another tradition which practices confirmation.
  • When someone moves into the parish from another Episcopal church and has a “Letter of Transfer”

Subtractions are made from the list

  • When someone dies
  • When someone is absent for an extended period of time
  • When someone is transferred out of the parish, via a “Letter of Transfer.”

 

Reflections about membership:

… that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ…(Ephesians 4:11)

First (and again,) the basics:

We give thanks to God for your presence in our congregation.   Please know that you are welcome here at All Saints, to participate in whatever way you feel called by God. 

We all are at different places in our faith journey – for each of us it is exactly the place God would have us be.   As we learn more – as our lives change – as we feel the need to move into a more active ministry — sometimes we need to examine our commitment to the church and the level at which we wish to participate.

If you wish to be baptized and confirmed (or received) and to formally acknowledge the great blessing and responsibility of ministry in this congregation, simply mention that fact to our clergy – or to a Bishop’s Committee member and they will make sure you’re on your way.