Thoughts from Lori+, June 26, 2013

Jun 26, 2013

The question comes up from time-to-time about how one becomes an Episcopalian. The actual question might be: How does one become a member? Or: What is the definition of a member? Or: Who exactly are”members” of this church? In the past, that was all very clear.

  • An Episcopalian was either Baptized into the church; or if joining the church later in life, Confirmed by the bishop.
  • If one moved to a different parish church, that person requested to have his or her “letter” transferred to the new parish.
  • To be a “member in good standing” meant that one had received the Sacraments (meaning Communion) three times in the past year.

All very neat and tidy.

But times have changed, haven’t they. These days, denominational loyalties have blurred. That is, it’s much more acceptable to move from being a Methodist to being a Presbyterian, or from being a Baptist to being an Episcopalian. That may seem natural to us today, but even as recently as the early 20th century (a short time in church history) when Bill’s grandfather left the Lutheran church to become an Episcopalian, his Lutheran family disowned him! While some may regret this loosening of denominational ties, surely we don’t miss such reactions.

In addition to the lessening of denominational identity, our vastly increased mobility in the last 50 to 75 years has furthered changes in the definition of membership, not only in our church, but in all mainline churches. The result is an emphasis on participation, and much less rigidity and legalism.

And yet, we still need a way to declare who we are and to help people understand what it means to be an Episcopalian. With adults moving from another denomination, we continue place a high value on being Received by the bishop. It’s in our DNA. But we have tended to relax our understanding of membership based on regular worship and participation, including regular giving. If you consider yourself a member of St. Paul’s, then we do, too. But if you want to make it official, then we’ll help you accomplish that as well.

We here at St. Paul’s are in the process of updating our parish register’s list of Communicants and our membership list in general. When we had our pictures taken for the new pictorial, we all had a chance to check our personal and family information, which has been a big help. The vestry also authorized Bill (McLemore) to go through our parish books and files for updating. If you think your information may not be complete, or if you have questions about your status, please feel free to email Bill at wmclemore37 [at] gmail.com. We want everyone to feel like you belong!

Faithfully,

Lori_Sig

Love God. Love Your Neighbor.

Change the World.

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