Recap of Members' Meeting (14 Jan 2024)
We began 2024 with our first Members’ Meeting on 14 January 2024. We previously called it the Quarterly Congregational Meeting, but beginning 2024, these meetings will be held once every two months, instead of once a quarter. We hope to update members more regularly about our life together as a church and about our membership, as we receive and see out members.
ELDER-LED CONGREGATIONALISM
Elder Gerald opened the meeting with a prayer before Pastor Eugene spent some time teaching about elder-led congregationalism This formed the basis of some changes to the membership process from 2024.
From God’s Word, we are to understand that the new covenant community is a believing community, comprising those who have been regenerated by God’s Spirit (Jer 31:31-34). The church, which is this new community, is a priesthood of believers. The members of a local church work together to glorify God (1 Pet 2:9). Jesus commissions the church to make disciples. He entrusts the church with the authority of the keys of the kingdom. As a local church, we steward this authority by affirming what is the gospel, and who is a believer of this gospel (Matt 16:18-19; 18:17-18).
Congregationalism focuses on the what (“This is a true gospel confession”) and who of the gospel (“These are true gospel confessors”). We see this from various parts of Scripture: 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, Galatians. 3:1, Revelation 2:14-16, Acts 6:3, Acts 14:23, 2 Timothy 2:2.
Members gathered to hear about and take part in various church matters.
How is this done? God has also given us elders who are to lead, teach, and equip the church to steward its authority according to Scripture. The church is to submit to godly, faithful, and biblical elders (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:9; Heb 13:17). The Bible gives final authority to the members of a local church, as led by the elders, to affirm what is a true gospel confession and who is a true gospel confessor. We do this through faithful gospel proclamation, rightly administering the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, as well as practising biblical membership and discipline.
Why practise elder-led congregationalism?
It’s biblical.
It’s good for the gospel.
It’s good for the church.
It’s good for our individual growth.
It’s historical.
What does this mean for us? As members, these are some ways that we are already doing it, or can consider doing:
Gather regularly with the church.
Know and be known by one another.
Attend members’ meetings.
Know and grow in the gospel and God’s Word.
Disciple one another.
Follow godly leaders.
Share the gospel with outsiders.
If you would like to find out more about this, or have questions, do feel free to speak with our elders. They’d be more than happy to chat and take any questions. Pastor Eugene also gave away copies of the book, What Is a Healthy Chhurch Member, which is also a useful resource on the issue of church membership.
MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
We proceeded to put congregationalism into practice by receiving and seeing members out.
Receiving new members
The 21 new members who were presented to the members to be affirmed.
We began with receiving members. Various elders came up to share briefly about each one of the 21 members we intended to receive by baptism or transfer. The elders had chatted with them and their testimonies had been made available two weeks prior to the meeting. During this Meeting, we as members were called to receive these baptism or transfer candidates into membership via a show of hands. As each member was presented, we were reminded of God’s faithfulness to His church, shown through His work in the life of each individual. Not only that, we were also reminded of our responsibility as members of this local body to receive and care for one another.
After all 21 new members were presented to the members, the elders led the members through two statements of affirmation. Members were to affirm that these brothers and sisters have, along with us, repented of their sins and believed in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. We also affirmed that we receive them as fellow members of Grace Baptist Church, and therefore commit to walk with them in Christlike love and unity, for our mutual encouragement and for building up the body of Christ.
The 21 new members who were presented to the members to be affirmed.
It was timely then, that Pastor Eugene led us all to recite the Members’ Covenant together.
Seeing out existing members
In the life of the church, as we receive members, we will also see members out for various reasons. The three main categories are:
Members transferring out
Members residing overseas
Absent members
The elders spoke of the various members in these categories. Members who are transferring out are those attending or have joined the membership of another gospel-preaching church. Members were invited to affirm the transfer of these members. As our Members’ Covenant says, “We will, when we move from this place, join another Gospel-preaching church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word”. We are thankful that these individuals have found another church to be a part of, and let us pray that they will continue to grow and be an encouragement to the local community of believers that they have committed to be with.
Hearing about members whom we're seeing out for various reasons.
Next, the elders shared about members who are currently residing overseas for more than a year. Our elders have also informed them of this Meeting and have reached out to them to encourage them to be a part of a local body of believers where they are. Members were invited to affirm the decision to see the members who are overseas out of our membership. On a related note, do speak to the elders if you are planning to move overseas for longer than a year. The elders hope to help you find a local church where you can join and be well cared for.
Members who have been absent were also presented to the rest of the membership. These were members whose names have been shared at previous meetings for the members to reach out to them as they have not been present in church for more than a year and have also been unresponsive to the elders’ previous attempts at contacting them. Members were then invited to affirm the decision to move these members out of membership. Again, as our Members’ Covenant states, “We will not neglect to gather regularly for corporate worship, or to pray for ourselves and others”. It is hard to practise membership when we are not present physically for an extended period of time.
It is important to note that these individuals are invited to attend our corporate gatherings and they are always welcome to join us again as members through the membership process.
Absent members
The elders also presented another list of names of individuals who have not been attending regularly and encouraged members to reach out to them and let the elders know how they are doing.
Discipline
Finally, Pastor Eugene and Elder Nehemiah came before the church and presented a case of church discipline before the members. Due to the sensitive nature of the case, we will not share the details here, and invite members to speak directly to the elders if they have questions. As we have heard in the recent sermon on Matthew 18, the goal of discipline is restorative and we desire to call the individual to repentance. Once again, we remind members of our responsibility to help each other to grow in holiness and Christlikeness by calling one another to turn away from sin.
LOOKING AHEAD
Pastor Jeremy took us through some of the plans for the months ahead.
Growing in the Word
This year, we will spend a significant portion of the year in Isaiah, under a series titled “The LORD Saves”. EQUIP will also be holding the following classes in the next few months:
Walking with One Another
Time and Money
Basic Christian Beliefs
Marks of a Healthy Church
Growing as a church
Pastor Jeremy updated us on key events and things to note in these two months.
Pastor Jeremy also shared about the Nursery and Children’s Ministry. As of January 2024, we have 130 toddlers and kids registered. We thank God for His provision of children, but as a result, the ministry also needs more help. The needs are currently:
5 Sunday School Teachers (once a month)
Helping families on Sundays
Child Minding for Church Matters
If you are able to help in any of these, email the team at kidsmin@gracebaptistchurch.sg.
In March, we will be hosting John and Keri Folmar. Keri Folmar will be speaking at a Women’s Conference titled “Growing Godly Women”. John will be speaking on the topic “Church-Centred Missions”. We encourage all members to consider participating in this and bringing others along to learn together.
Finally, Pastor Jeremy also encouraged us to continue praying for Pastor Mark and his family, as they are still waiting for some of the paperwork to be approved.
Church Calendar
At this meeting, the dates for future Members’ Meetings was also shared. We encourage members to pencil down these dates and to plan to attend the Meetings: 10 March, 12 May, 14 July, 8 September, 10 November.
Church Matters will also run more frequently this year. This is our membership class and we encourage all visitors and members who are interested to find out more about our church to attend this. It is also a good refresher for existing members on what we believe as a church and how we can practise meaningful membership.
New Director
The final item was a note about the upcoming election of a new director. More details will follow soon.
SMALL GROUP PRAYER
The Meeting closed with a time of small group prayer. We prayed for our members, that the incoming members will continue to grow as a part of this local community. We also continue to pray for outgoing members for them to settle in another gospel preaching church. As we heard the plans and upcoming events, we also prayed that for our church life in the next quarter, that we grow in the Word, grow as a church and grow the gospel.
Pastor Oliver closed the meeting with a prayer thereafter.
See you at our next meeting on 10 March 2024!
If you have any questions about any part of this meeting, we encourage you to speak with our elders in person, or you can also write to them at info@gracebaptistchurch.sg.