Organizing church membership

What is the reason for Brazilian churches to have registered members?

A key text for us is there in Proverbs 27:23: “Seek to know the state of your sheep, place your heart on your flocks”.

There is a call from us to care for lives. After all, they were bought by the blood of Jesus, so God has an expectation that we do something well done.

And when I look at membership I see lives, not as numbers, but as people. I'm trying to know the state of my sheep. Even though we are a large church, we can have individualized pastoral care.

We are a cell-based church, so people are part of a small group, they have friends in that place, they are built up by the word and receive prayer. So we can be part of a large local church, but we are unique to God and also unique to my local church.

So Proverbs 27:23 is the key. We take such care with the members because we have sought to know the state of the sheep and we put our heart into it.

So does the church organize the membership records to take better care of people?

Yes, and along with that, we have a trail from when a person enters the church, everything that they do at the church in relation to the courses and stages that they are advancing in their ministry.

And all of this is also linked to your registration within célula.in. This trail tells the person's story with the church.

Do church people know that such a register exists?

We don't verbalize this in any way, at any time. We have here the integration class, which is like a 5-week course.

In this course we explain that. There I say that this data will be recorded and during the integration course the students understand how the church is structured.

Here, in the New Alliance Church, a person is a member as long as they have completed the integration course, are in a cell group and also attend the services and celebrations.

Of course, it's not that simple to keep track of presence in services, but in the cell group we have it. If it is missing sporadically, or if it hasn't been there for a long time, the cell group leader is in control using célula.in.

Does this change of status, from non-member to member, cause that person to have any privileges or access to something that they would not have if they were not a member?

It exists! At the end of the integration, it is presented publicly, at Sunday service, in front of the entire church. We celebrate this moment because they are people who are becoming members. This celebration ends the integration and begins a new moment in that person's life in the local church.

She begins to have all the rights that a member has within the church. You can participate in a ministry, you can take other courses, etc. The next courses that a person can take at church depend on whether the person has completed the integration.

Integration, anyone can do it. The leadership course is recommended by the leader, the cell group supervisor accompanied by the area pastor. She takes the leadership course for one day, if it's God's will, that person will be a cell group leader.

There are rights and duties from the moment she's a member, so it really gives her a lot of rights. Rights to be shepherded in a cell group, to participate in ministries, to volunteer at events held by the church. The person is part of it, they have this feeling of belonging to the local church and they can carry out ministries in the future.

This is very clear to us and it is clear to them too: “Look, from now on you are members, count on us.

So in order for a person to become a member of the New Alliance Church, do they have to go through integration class, not necessarily just be baptized in the church?

Exactly.

What if the person takes the integration class and is not baptized, can they participate in the ministries?

We consider that she is a member because she is part of a cell group and has completed the integration class. However, she will not be able to exercise leadership ministry if she has not been baptized by immersion.

In integration we have a special class on baptism. We made it clear that our view, based on God's word, is that baptism is by immersion.

It's our criteria. She can make her decision, but we, as a local church, have very clear criteria for her to understand. And it's not to offend her, but to say, “Look, we work that way.”

How could she be a cell group leader if one day someone under her leadership asks the question: “Well, you think I should baptize, what do you think?” Then the leader would say: “oh, but I wasn't baptized either”. It would be inconsistent with the vision, with what we believe as a church.

So, you've completed the integration, are you part of the cell group and do you attend services? It's a member. For leadership, baptism is fundamental.

And do church members attend the meetings?

Only the leadership participates in the assembly. For example, Davi Souza, our senior pastor, needs to make a decision. It brings together the leadership and brings the issue up for discussion to hear an opinion. That's just with the leaders.

The church government has a presbytery with Pr Davi and 3 other couples, which is the government's presbytery. These decisions regarding a direction that God has given do not reach a member, that member who has just joined, who is coming, is not like that.

If controlling the membership list were not to take care of people, but simply organizational, to measure the growth of the church, would the registration of membership be equally valid?

I see that the two things are interdependent, the two things are important.

Being a member, having privileges, rights, is a very good thing because it gives that feeling of belonging. Today we have a lot of this on social networks, people have tribes, groups, related networks or related groups, they don't want to be just a number.

And we see that Jesus was a man of multitudes, but he had his group, he had his cell group, he had the 12 disciples, he had relationships, so we are a church based on relationships and that control strengthens that.

Both aspects are important, but I can say that the biggest burden is strengthening us as a relationship church. That's clear to the leadership, we're not just dealing with members in the sense of numbers, of quantity, behind those numbers we have lives, we have people, we have families.

Alberto, how old is the New Alliance Church?

It was founded in 1963. Pastor Samuel and Pastor Lygia are the founders of the New Alliance Church of Londrina. And in 1998, Pastor Davi and Pastor Mônica took over the management.

Has this concept of organization always been in the church's view, or is this more recent?

Without a doubt, what we are experiencing today is the fruit of seeds that were sown, of the desire in the hearts of Pastor Samuel and Lygia.

All this organization that we have today, back in the 70s, in the 80s, did not exist, but what was done there pointed to this and then it was implemented and materialized when Pastor Davi began to think about the new era for the church.

Does the New Alliance Church provide any kind of support or guidance for other churches that want to live that want to implement in their churches that same level of excellence that you do in relation to the organization?

Not institutionally, but we are open to sharing and talking about what we have experienced, how we are doing it. If a church comes here, wants to talk to us, they're going to talk and they're going to testify and they're going to talk about it.

Do you know if there are any legal requirements for churches to have a membership records?

I don't know if there's anything external or any legally established criteria, but we have our statute and our internal criteria. If anyone questions something along these lines and that's what we're going to present: 'Look, there are criteria and those criteria are in our statute, in the statute of the New Alliance Church'.

When the person wants to stop being a member of the church, is that information also recorded?

Yes, but we are a church of relationships, so first, the leader or the supervisor will check what has happened.

Was it a situation of disagreement or a disappointment? What is the reason why the person stopped attending the cell group? The leader will seek this. Was it a change of city? Work? We don't want the person to be tied to the church, but to serve the Lord with us with joy.

Then, as soon as the situation was exhausted, that is, exhausted in the good sense (the leader accompanied, the leader called, the leader had a conversation, the supervisor also helped with this, it was really decided that the person will no longer be part of it), this registration is inactive for us, and after a decision with the supervisor and the membership records is disbanded.

That person no longer appears as a member in the célula.in app, because the app has a membership records, participants, and visitors.

Alberto, do you have any tips to leave to the leaders, pastors?

Yes. The church that presents a path, a trail, makes people who are arriving feel safer. This trail answers common questions, such as: “What do I need to do? , Why is the cell-based church? , Why does the church make an encounter with God? Why does the church practice tithes and offerings? Why is baptism by immersion?”

So the tip that I leave, it's worth having a class, something to start those who are arriving. They will feel important, they will have security about that place, about the local church they want to be part of.