{"id":4784,"date":"2016-08-01T04:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T09:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomrainer.com\/?p=4784"},"modified":"2020-02-07T15:09:26","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:09:26","slug":"six-perspectives-dual-church-membership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/six-perspectives-dual-church-membership\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Perspectives on Dual Church Membership"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love local churches. I just love them.<\/p>\n

I know they are filled with imperfect members. I know all the members are sinners and occasional hypocrites just like me. That reality has not changed since the first century.<\/p>\n

But I just love local churches.<\/p>\n

And I love being a member of a local church. First Corinthians 12, in essence, gives three qualities of healthy church members: they are committed; they are serving; and they are accountable.<\/p>\n

And lest you missed it, the word \u201cmember,\u201d referring to church members, is in 1 Corinthians 12 five times. Church membership is biblical and church member is a biblical term.<\/p>\n

But what do we do with the concept of dual membership? As a rule, most of us believers should belong to one and only one local congregation. We need to be accountable to one body and ministering where we live. But I can see some exceptions. For discussion, then, let me throw out six perspectives on belonging to two different churches.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind, there are doctrinal and polity issues that could preclude dual membership. I certainly want to respect the integrity of each local church. Let\u2019s consider, then, these six perspectives on dual church membership:.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Yes: If the member truly lives in two different locations throughout the year. <\/strong>Obvious examples include \u201csnowbirds\u201d who migrate south in the colder months, and businesspersons required to live in two locations because of their unique jobs.<\/li>\n
  2. Yes: If the member has a high probability of returning to the original church in the near future. <\/strong>A college student moves out of state but plans on taking a job in her hometown when she graduates. She might do well to minister and serve in both her college church and then her hometown church. A soldier is stationed in another state or country but will be coming home. Both might do well with dual membership.<\/li>\n
  3. Yes: If both churches embrace dual membership. <\/strong>In some contexts, churches do not allow dual membership, but they will allow you to become affiliated with their congregation \u201cunder watch care,\u201d whatever that means.<\/li>\n
  4. No: If the church member knows he is not returning, but he has a sentimental attachment to one church. <\/strong>Moving is difficult. Leaving a church we love is tough as well. But that is no reason to stay tied to a congregation where you will never serve in the near future.<\/li>\n
  5. No: If the member wants to escape accountability. <\/strong>I actually heard a church member say he has dual membership, and he has become accountable to neither church. There must be an understanding of accountability in each church.<\/li>\n
  6. No: If the member must compromise doctrinally with either church to join. <\/strong>There are some good churches where I disagree with their doctrines on secondary and tertiary issues. I could not and would not join them. I don\u2019t doubt their faith, but I can\u2019t compromise my beliefs either.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For the past few years, I have been advocating the concept of \u201cI am a church member.\u201d In a few cases, it might be okay to say, \u201cI am a member of two churches.\u201d<\/p>\n

    I hope you will engage with me on this issue. There is so much to discuss, affirm, and, possibly, disagree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the past few years, I have been advocating the concept of \u201cI am a church member.\u201d In a few cases, it might be okay to say, \u201cI am a member of two churches.\u201d","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,184,175,186,176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-discipleship","category-grow","category-health-and-metrics","category-revitalize"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSix Perspectives on Dual Church Membership | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/six-perspectives-dual-church-membership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Six Perspectives on Dual Church Membership | Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the past few years, I have been advocating the concept of \u201cI am a church member.\u201d In a few cases, it might be okay to say, \u201cI am a member of two churches.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/six-perspectives-dual-church-membership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-01T09:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-07T21:09:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Six-Perspectives-on-Dual-Church-Membership.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"503\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thom S. 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