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Do you belong to All Saints?

April 13, 2008  - Dale

A difficult question. Belong in what sense? Am I on the list of registered members? Am I a regular attender? Is this my church home? Am I part of the fellowship? Are my Christian friends and encouragers and supporters in this church? Am I connected with strong bonds to those who are working to strengthen and build up this church? Have I invested myself in its life?

So many possible answers. All Saints is an unusual church because people can be part of it in different ways. Some people are both registered members and part of the “engine room” that helps the church grow. Others are not registered members but are part of the core strength. Some attend regularly and share to some extent in the life of All Saints. Some are visitors.

The structure of this church allows all these three groups (registered members, regular attenders and visitors) to be part of All Saints in different ways. So it can be confusing for those of us who are from churches where membership is defined more narrowly.

But belonging is more than whether we are members in some official sense. Do you feel you belong? Are you made to feel that you are a welcome part of the fellowship? And who do you look to to give you this feeling? Are your feelings of belonging stronger if the minister or leaders include you? Or does it feel better if you have a group of people you know and are comfortable with? Do you feel more at home if there are people in church who have a similar background to you?

Or is your sense of belonging connected to what you contribute? Is your feeling of belonging greater when you have something to share, some ministry to do, some way of helping to strengthen the church?

Belonging can be thought of as passive or active. The downside of passive belonging is that it can lead to self-pity and blaming those who apparently haven’t included us (of course passive belongers don’t tend to include others themselves). The downside of active belonging is that we can get frustrated if we cannot contribute in the way we want to, and this can lead to blaming those “in power” and to withdrawing.

But active and passive belonging are not alternatives. They go together. Sometimes with difficulty. One of the difficulties arises from putting too much responsibility for the fellowship on other people. “My feeling of belonging is someone else’s responsibility.” (- leaders, others in general…).

But the fellowship is the fellowship. Its life is dynamic and organic. Certainly key people affect its life in important ways, but its actual life is the result of the choices of the people in it. Belonging is what the people in the fellowship do, or don’t do. Do you belong to All Saints?

Dale

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