Question on church membership

[JoeV]

Hey everyone. I go to a Roman Catholic church because my parents do, although I do not consider myself a Catholic. I wanted to experiment with other churches and see how they were, but am I allowed to just attend whatever church whenever I want to? Are most churches strict about membership, or can anyone come whenever they want? Thanks for any info. :) God bless!

[elsbeth]

In my experience (strictly Protestant) most churches have some requirements for membership, but all encourage visitors with no requirements except showing up.

[Kelly]

you can attend any church you want, and I encourage it. Some churches don't allow visitors to work in various ministries (such as the kid's church/childcare) for obvious reasons.

[JoeV]

Thanks guys :)

[MaidforHim]

Hey everyone. I go to a Roman Catholic church because my parents do, although I do not consider myself a Catholic. I wanted to experiment with other churches and see how they were, but am I allowed to just attend whatever church whenever I want to? Are most churches strict about membership, or can anyone come whenever they want? Thanks for any info. :) God bless!

My pastor was raised Catholic, he is now a Calvary Chapel minister (non-denominational).

If you believe in Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior and you want to call our church home.... Then welcome home, your a member of God's family and our church. That's it.

Of course those that are curious are always welcome too.

We look at is as God's church first and foremost, it's about having and/or developing a strong personal relationship with God. Not about religion which I think is pretty cool.

We don't rely on fancy sermons, instead our pastor teaches directly from the Bible, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse as they like to say. I enjoy it very much and so do my teenagers.

If your interested in finding a church like this let me know I can post some links.

God bless you.

[JTLauder]

In all churches I've been to (Protestant only too), visitors are always welcome and can continue to come without any involvement in the church whatsoever. Generally, however, if you want to be more involved in the church such as help out in various ministries or events or be part of the governing council, membership is required. Some churches may also restrict certain services unless you are a member too, such as communion or other things. But a church's worship services are open to all.

[HeyHomie]

There are some churches that are pretty sectarian about who they'll let through the doors, but they are very few and very far between.

Any Protestant church I've ever been to had an open door to anyone who wanted to come in.

[JoeV]

Thanks guys. I was going to do this a long time ago, but then I just got worried that I wouldn't be welcome in their church so I didn't go. But now I see that it is different than I thought!

[JAS4Yeshua]

I was raised Catholic as well, so I understand what you are going through. I'm sure you'll find most churches accepting to visitors, although it can get overwhelming, especially since you probably won't know anyone. Don't let that discourage you, though. Focus on the Lord and on the teaching. Follow God's leading, and He'll lead you to the body He wants you to be a part of.

My personal recommendation would be a Calvary Chapel, if one is near you. Check out http://www.calvarychapel.com/ and use their church locater to find one in your area. :)

[JoeV]

Thank you for that, although the closest one is over ten miles away! Oh well, I'm sure there's some other good churches out there near me.

[New_Wineskin]

Hey everyone. I go to a Roman Catholic church because my parents do, although I do not consider myself a Catholic. I wanted to experiment with other churches and see how they were, but am I allowed to just attend whatever church whenever I want to? Are most churches strict about membership, or can anyone come whenever they want? Thanks for any info. :) God bless!

Most groups do want you to forsake the assemblies of believers and meet only with them . Membership is a way of locking you in and having division in the body of Christ .

[synger]

I did it the other way around. I was raised Presbyterian, and as a teenager wanted to attend a Catholic church. My folks were fine with it, so long as I was going to a Christian church. I was very active in the Catholic youth group, though I never really understood much about the service at that time. Still, years later when I turned to Lutheran doctrine, I found echoes of that ancient liturgy in that denomination, and found myself at home.

You should be fine visiting almost any Christian church. Some will not allow you to participate in Communion, but most won't have a problem with it. You may, however, wish to consider abstaining from Communion while visiting, especially if you are already confirmed as Catholic. The doctrines are often quite different. But God is at the center of it all.

[InServicetoGod]

Most groups do want you to forsake the assemblies of believers and meet only with them . Membership is a way of locking you in and having division in the body of Christ .


That is what I have encountered too. Most seem to want you to be a "member" of their church and their church only.
The way I See it, well, we all belong to one church......me, you Wineskin, the Old guy down the street, Rufus across town, philippi in Cuba, Mjombo in Nigeria....although we have never met in person, we all belong to the SAME Church that encompasses all believers......

NOW go down to 12 Street Chruch of Christ for example, they say that they and they alone are the only "true" believers, and if you go over to Marvin Gardens United Methodist don;t want you to be a member there and eb a member at Ventnor Ave PResbyterian, and if you join Kentucky Ave Baptist Church, they will never leave you alone, and will insist that you have nothing to do with the others as well, even to the point of pointing out how they are "Wrong"
And if you decide to go to the Unity Church at Park Palce, well, the rest will hate you forever for it.....

hate..A Christian Value

I have heard it in so many "churches" and seen it many times at work.....

Just like the whole "Membership" thing

As you know when it comes to "membership" I do my own thing.
If they havea problem at St ajmes EPiscopal with my membership and involvement at Park PLace Unity Church (Which BTW They Don't) well, I let it be THEIR Problem Not mine

I could never be a member of one congregation only. been Burned too many times that way......
But I do what works for me and you have to find what works for you


Such is the path to enlightenment....

[Kelly]

Some will not allow you to participate in Communion,

Wow, I've never heard of that!

[JoeV]

Thanks again guys!

[Calminaion]

Hey everyone. I go to a Roman Catholic church because my parents do, although I do not consider myself a Catholic. I wanted to experiment with other churches and see how they were, but am I allowed to just attend whatever church whenever I want to? Are most churches strict about membership, or can anyone come whenever they want? Thanks for any info. :) God bless!

There is nothing in Scripture regarding church membership, in terms of filling out a form and having a "file" with the church you attend. I've never heard of a church not allowing a non-member in the doors, though I've heard horror stories about churches not letting a non-member take Communion and the like.

That's why I attended Calvary Chapels for a long time, and the church I attend now doesn't require membership. You just show up and participate, because as a believer in Jesus Christ, you're already a member of the Church.

It's truly disgusting when a church requires you to fill out a form for church membership. All they want is to suck more money out of you, in my experience. :sick:

[LJSGM]

You could also consider a home church if you want more one on one fellowship and discussion. From my point of view, it's more like how the church was in the beginning, it's an option anyways. Just watch out for cults, that's all, but you don't have to agree on everything, but it's nice to like minded as well.

Whenever I go to church "services," I always feel like, was there a reason to come here other then legalism, feeling guilty about not attending something on Sundays? Sure the messages were sometimes good, but if you ask me, I have learned more trusting God to teach me then I ever would have if I listened to a sermon every Sunday and left it at that. I didn't really feel much connection to other believers and most of the time you knew it was fake, just to get more members or to be a "good" welcoming christian, they didn't really want to get to know you. But everyone's experience if different, some people thrive in institutional churches maybe :) There are a lot of nice institutional churches out there. I just prefer a home group.