February 2011 - What is membership?

Dear friends–  I wonder what you see as the defining factor which makes you a ‘Member’ of the Church of the Good Shepherd? If you attended one of the free reformed churches in this country or around the world, they would be likely to have a Membership List that you got your name on in a variety of ways, but which would (I believe) always entail helping to meet the overall costs of keeping the church going. But in the Church of England we have a pretty wide definition of what it is to be a Member.

If you think on the number of people who put ‘CofE’ on their Census Forms, simply as a default, or when they go into hospital, don’t grumble at it - this is an absolutely correct response. Everyone in this country lives in a Parish of the Church of England and, by definition, they are, therefore, members of their local Parish Church, entitled to have their child baptised there, to have their funeral held in church and, within some limits, to be married in it. Others might feel a sense of belonging, and therefore membership of a particular church, because they attend there at the major festivals. Again - absolutely correct. Indeed, if you take Communion only at Easter, then you’ve fulfilled your minimum obligation as a communicant member of the church. Make that attendance and taking of Communion even three times a year, and you’ll very rightly feel a practising part of a particular church family.

I suppose the most definite way of saying ‘I am a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd’ (as opposed to any other Anglican Church) is to get your name onto the Electoral Roll. You can do this at any time if you live within the Parish boundaries, or, if you don’t, you simply have to state that you’ve habitually attended public worship there for six months before you fill in the form. This entitles you to vote at the Annual Meeting, but doesn’t really give you any obligations to the church. You get a Right - but doesn’t membership require a commitment and responsibility on our part also?

 Now there are some folk who never bother with the Electoral Roll, but who take up their own duties and obligations to the church by giving money each week or month, and that is fantastic. This year, we find ourselves in a difficult financial situation here at COGS. We have committed ourselves to fulfilling OUR obligations to the wider church by gradually increasing the percentage of what we are asked to pay to the Diocese to support clergy salaries and Diocesan costs (things like training, support services to schools, family work etc – the ‘Parish Share’). We have never yet managed to make this 100%, whereas there are churches which give OVER their requested amount in order to support other, poorer Parishes. We feel that we should be able to pay 100% if we possibly can, and aim to increase the amount we send year on year until we reach that – hopefully by our 100^th birthday – it seems neat to pay 100% then! We’re also committed to ensuring that we support those more needy than ourselves through charitable giving – part, surely, of our obligations as Christians. So we raise money for a selection of charities over the year and try to make this 10% of our available income.

But being good, committed members of both the wider Anglican Church and of the whole Christian family leaves us, this year, in a position where projected income will not meet projected out-goings in 2011. We can withdraw some from savings, of course – our Treasurers over the years have been good stewards, and we do have some leeway. But this year we will also be faced with a large bill for church repairs, as our Five-yearly inspection comes around and obliges us to do what is advised to keep our buildings safe.

So what do we do? Go back on our commitment to meet our obligations? Lower the amount we give to charities? Fail to pay our utilities bills? Of course it will be sensible to look at the RATE at which we increase our percentage of the Parish Share to the Diocese, and perhaps we may have to review the amount that we give to charity, since last year we exceeded 10% by a little. But these won’t reduce the deficit to an acceptable amount unless we increase our regular, boring, not-for-exciting-new-projects sort of fund-raising and giving. It might be relatively easy to inspire people a specific thing, but it’s much more difficult to raise money to pay the gas bill! Quite rightly, a number of regular givers in our church have had to reduce their giving over the past year because of their difficult financial situation. No-one should EVER feel bad about having to do this – your own financial safety and that of your family MUST come first. But maybe there are some folk who haven’t made any sort of commitment yet, but do feel a sense of belonging here?

Bu I must also say that money is absolutely not the whole picture when we think about membership of a church. The other VITAL aspect is what we give of ourselves – in time, and effort and talents. And there are people around this church who give SO much of themselves I worry that they may not be holding back enough for themselves! Unsung heroes and heroines who do stuff in the background – cleaning, weeding the garden, visiting people, making phone calls …. People who do more visible stuff like preaching and teaching, leading our children to God, supporting others through lifts and little chores, being members of the PCC (Church Council). So many gifts.

We all have talents we can use for God’s service, and we need to have a look at how we balance our own pleasures, our family obligations and joys, and our commitment to respond to God’s call and to be a member of a church family. And maybe, doing something for God and this church can also be great fun and feed your own enjoyment. How about joining in with our Easter production this year of ‘Mary’s Story’ which will be performed in the church on the Saturday before Palm Sunday (see item later in this edition)?

 Or how about suggesting an event or activity, small or large, which could be fun for everyone and also raise some funds? Geoff and Brian regularly use their gifts and talents of Quiz setting to raise money for COGS. Is there something YOU could do to help us beat our deficit? Do please pray about this, and contact Derek if you feel you can give a regular sum to the church, or Pauline Brattle if you have a fund-raising idea. Or me if you’d like to offer your services in some other way to this wonderful, loving and giving church family or to the wider world …..

With much love from me to you - Gail