Like you said John, at Bethlehem membership comes with certain responsibilities, yet there is a relational aspect. Part of the rationale for becoming a member is so the shepherds know who the sheep are. But to be a sheep, you must believe. So in one sense, membership helps pastors know who they are pastoring. But in another sense, membership is a public declaration of faith and a commitment to the local body of believers.

I’m glad to be processing through this issue with people who are thoughtful and who clearly care about both membership and the disabled. Thank you (everyone) for your thoughts, I’m praying for wisdom and clarity.

At its most basic, I take a request for membership to be a desire to publicly associate oneself with a group that one identifies with and wishes to belong to. The group’s identity then determines what conditions they require for membership. Being a really big fan of the music or the church’s potlucks wouldn’t qualify a person for membership, because music and potlucks aren’t what the church is *about.* But being a part of the body of Christ together with the desire to officially belong would qualify a person.

It’s a difficult question as to how one can determine whether or not a person is part of the body of Christ when he/she has disabilities that prevent a clear statement of faith- but, for everyone, that’s really up to God to determine. As members (or deacons, or on the council, or what have you) of the local church, we look for evidence in the life of the person requesting membership- including, but hopefully not limited to, their statement of faith. If it were up to me, I would look at this individual’s life for evidence that he had opened himself up to the work of God, whatever that might look like given his situation. If I saw evidence to that effect, and it was clear he wished to officially belong to the church, I would extend membership to him. Jesus commended the widow’s (seemingly) unimpressive gift because she was willing to give all she had; I think a similar principle applies here.

This individual probably won’t be able to vote in an informed manner on a lot of issues, or carry out all of the duties typically expected of church members, but I would say it’s up to God to decide how He will work in him to benefit the church.

Justin S

If mainly physically limited, he may be understanding, believing, and fully committed to the beliefs and covenant of his church.

In that case, is his inability to participate and vote significantly different from a member who is homebound now and can’t be present to vote? (I know voting isn’t everything, but I’m just using that as an example.)

Yes, I see that the significant difference is that this man hasn’t been able to communicate his understanding, belief, and commitment. And so I would ask, if this is mainly a physical limitation, Is there no one to whom he communicates in his own way who can “interpret” for him?