Membership Process for Children at Sojourn
1. Purpose and Definition:
We believe that God reveals Himself in Scripture through covenants. A covenant is a solemn and binding promise in which two parties commit themselves to one another. In Scripture, it is God who always initiates the covenant relationship with his people, pledging His steadfast love, faithfulness and blessing, while calling his people to respond with trust, obedience and loyalty. When someone becomes a member of the church, they enter into a covenant–making a public commitment before God and His people to follow Christ, support His church, and live on mission as part of His redeemed community.
To the extent that this covenantal relationship is so prevalent in both the Old and New Testaments, we believe it is helpful to see that all of God’s revelation can be summarized within the framework of what has been called “Covenant Theology.” In Scripture, we see that there is provision, not only for believers, but also the children of believers inside the covenant family of God (see Gen 17:1-14, Acts 2:39). We believe that there is clear continuity from Old to New Testament in how God deals with the children of believers under the covenant of grace. In the New Testament, children enjoy both privileges and responsibilities of the covenant family, which is why they are seen as part of the household of God (Eph 6:1-4, Col. 3:20-21, 1 Cor. 7:14).
So, in accordance with the Bible, we believe that though young children are born in an alienated state from God (Ps. 51:5, Eph. 2:3), yet they are specially marked out from the world. While they grow in their understanding of the gospel, and as disciples of Jesus Christ, they are still a part of the church, and under the spiritual authority of their parents. Thus they are described as “non-communing members” of the visible church until they make a profession of faith in Christ.
In Chapter 6 of our Book of Church Order (BCO) there is a helpful distinction made between the non-communing and communing member of a PCA church. BCO 6-1 says: “The children of believers are, through the covenant and by right of birth, non-communing members of the church. Hence they are entitled to baptism, and to the pastoral oversight, instruction and government of the church, with a view to their embracing Christ and thus possessing personally all benefits of the covenant.” In comparison BCO 6-2 says: “Communing members are those who have made a profession of faith in Christ, have been baptized, and have been admitted by the Session to the Lord’s Table.” These instructions, historical principles drawn from Scriptural truths, impress upon us the unique responsibility we have to these children and encourage us to take seriously the work of God in their lives (see Christ’s example in Matthew 19:13-15).
Families are encouraged to guide and instruct their children about sin, redemption, and its application through the Scriptures. Believers’ children should be “taught to love God, and to obey and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. When they are able to understand the Gospel, they should be earnestly reminded that they are members of the Church by birthright [being born into a Christian family], and that it is their duty and privilege personally to accept Christ, to confess Him before men, and to seek admission to the Lord’s Supper” (BCO 57-1).
It is important to note that baptized children who make a public profession of faith and are admitted by the Session (Church Elders) to the Lord’s Table are not joining our church for the first time. They are already members (non-communing) by virtue of their belonging to a Christian home. They are simply changing their status from non-communing to communing members by a personal profession of faith, a signal that they are individually responding to the call of Christ in the gospel, i.e. are in full communion with him. This is the culmination of God’s promise to the children of believers, of which Christian baptism is a sign and a seal. The key difference between communing and non-communing membership is that a communicant member of the church is an individual who has made a credible public profession of personal faith and whose life gives evidence of union with Christ Jesus.
2. Self Examination:
It’s important that families be aware of both the seriousness of the Lord’s Supper and the characteristics of saving faith. Regarding the Lord’s Supper, the apostle Paul tells us, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
This warning, along with the instruction on how we ought to take part in the Lord’s Supper earlier in this chapter and in other passages, provides at least 2 important things to keep in mind. First, this table is not our table or any particular church's table, but it is the table of the Lord Jesus Christ. In taking Communion we are eating the Lord’s bread, drinking the Lord’s cup, and there is a real spiritual presence of the Lord in which we participate. So much so, that the text says that those who eat and drink in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of Jesus Himself.
By implication, there is a right and wrong way to go about taking part in the Lord’s Supper, and it is Jesus Himself, and not particular churches, who tells us the right way to take part in communion. It is clear from Scripture that the Lord Jesus gives his people this sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as a sign of the real grace he gives to his people. He desires that Christians who take their faith, church, and walk with the Lord seriously should take part in the Lord’s Supper. Those Christian’s should be living under the rule of Christ, without secret unrepentant sin, living according to God's commandments, not perfectly but sincerely and with evident fruit. To take part in communion apart from this would be to participate in an unworthy manner.
Secondly, it is crucial for parents to understand and examine the nature of saving faith as it pertains to their children. Saving faith is a change affected by the Holy Spirit in the life of a person in which the believer exemplifies characteristics which include: hatred for sin, a love for God and the things of Christ, a pursuit of holiness, a desire to bring glory to God, joy in the midst of worldly challenges, and the growing fruit of the Spirit in their life. There is a noticeable change between the unregenerate and the regenerate heart.
Parents ought to look for these characteristics in their children which accompany saving faith and a public profession of the same. Parents should also be mindful of things which have the appearance of true faith but are not. Parroting is a typical danger in Christian families in which children mimic the behavior or language of their parents, which is fruitful for children as they grow but which needs to be distinguished from actual, saving faith. There can be a tendency to overvalue a public profession apart from the fruit of the Spirit. We don’t believe it is sufficient to emphasize “praying a prayer” without proper teaching and preparation, and without parents affirming evidence of a changed and growing heart in their child’s life.
Finally, parents should trust the timing and the work of the Holy Spirit. God has a plan for our families and our children, but sometimes we can be impatient with God. The truth of the matter is that as parents we will see the hand of God at work in our children’s lives from infancy. Salvation is of the Lord, a process by which God reveals himself to our children in time and space, over months and years, and we ought not feel the pressure to rush our children or to nail down a time and a date of their profession of faith. It is our hope that as God works in our children, and as parents are faithful in their ministry to their children, they will not remember a day when they did not know the love and care of God in their lives.
The role that parents play in the life of their children is vital. Parents, this is a mission field that God has called you to, to preach the gospel to your children in season and out of season, to remember that God has uniquely called you to faithfully serve these young children entrusted to you in God’s covenant of grace.
3. Process and Timing:
Our plan is to offer a “Communicant’s Class” at Sojourn for our children. We invite our children (under the guidance of their parents) to consider joining this class a step before making their profession of faith (e.g. sharing their testimony with the church) and becoming a communing member. Parents, if you see that your child is experiencing God’s work in their life by desiring a more personal, visible, experiential faith—walk with Christ–if they ask regularly about taking communion, then we strongly encourage you to have them attend and participate. Depending on the circumstances, we ask that you consider joining as well. Having said that, we also invite all children to attend, even if they haven’t yet expressed interest in communion or in making their own profession of faith. We believe this class will be beneficial to everyone.
The Communicant’s Class is a 5-week class meant to help cement and increase your child’s understanding of their salvation and membership in the church, but it cannot function as a crutch or stand-alone tool for training young Christians.
For children, the Communicant’s Class is often only as effective as the conversations you have at home with them. To that end, we strongly encourage parents before and during the class to be actively involved in their children’s learning and understanding. We strongly encourage parents to join their child in class each week. For parents who are unable to be there with them, we recommend they ask their child what they learned in the class each week. Inquire into the nature of their faith. Talk with them about baptism, whether they have already been baptized or whether they will be baptized, when received as a communing member. Be sure to emphasize the importance of church membership and the responsibility of being a communing member of the visible church, along with other children. Your guidance to them can’t be overestimated.
The Communicant’s Class will deal mainly with the membership questions of the PCA, but also with the Apostles’ Creed (as an opportunity to cement truths of the faith), and personal habits of prayer and devotion. The membership questions are the ones that every member is asked and must affirm to become a communing member of the church. We strongly encourage parents to start talking about these questions (provided here) with their children. If you need help simplifying or explaining the questions, reach out to your pastor.
(Sin) Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?
(Salvation) Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
(Sanctification) Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes a follower of Christ?
(Support) Do you promise to support the church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
(Submit) Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the church, and promise to study its purity and peace?
During the Communicant’s Class, children will be asked to complete some worksheets, on certain key doctrines and their own profession of faith in Christ Jesus.
Following the Communicant’s Class, children will be encouraged to discuss with their parents their desire to become a communing member of the church. If the child desires to become a communing member, a time will be scheduled with a pastor and an elder.
