What it means to be a member of a congregation

What does it mean to be a member of a congregation? It means something different to each person. The legal definition, if there really is a legal definition, is a person who participates in Holy Communion one time per year and gives $1 of record. That is it. Sadly, every congregation has a number of people on the roles of the church who do not even do that.
What does it really mean to be a member of a congregation? To me it means that you participate in the life of the congregation. Yes, even when our numbers go down, when people choose to stay home, or attend a service online there is still “life” in each church.
The life of the church are the people that attend.  The people who learn from each other, the people who care for each other, the people who care for the community in which they live. A true Christian serves others, sees a need and finds a way to meet that need. A Christian does not ask to be paid for doing a job they know how to do. They act out of love. They act out of mercy and grace. Yes, everyone deserves to be paid for the work that they do, and they should be paid; however, not every act of love deserves pay, or should I say, the act of love may be paid with gratitude and thankfulness.
Church attendance matters! It is how we connect with each other, how we learn that someone in our community has a need. Yes, our churches collect an offering at each service. We use that offering to pay our staff, to keep the buildings heated, cooled, lights on and other bills. As a contributor to a congregation, you will learn to speak up for things that you believe should be done. For activities that you feel are needed and that look out for the good of the whole community.
As Christians we engage in ways that help us to help each other. We help by teaching Sunday School or VBS, or Confirmation. We help by reading in worship, playing an instrument, or joining our voices in song to make the worship more meaningful. We come together to pray for each other when someone is sick or dying. We reach out with love by bringing necessary things to families in need, and we reach out with hugs just because.
The church needs each person that professes their life as a Christian to want to give back the way Christ gave. Not necessarily with their life on the cross, but by sacrificing with time, talents, and gifts.
As our small communities continue to get smaller, that does not mean that the needs go away; it simply means that we need each other a little more! Check in with your local community of faith.  See how you can help to keep the doors open and be a part of the lives that make up that community of faith worshiping the love of God!
In our church, when you are confirmed, you become an adult in the congregation. That does not mean that you can just stop coming, that you have graduated. No, it means that you have a responsibility to step up, to act like an adult, contribute financially, physically, and prayerfully in how you will keep God’s church a viable place for your community of faith to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world!