Membership Matters

Thank you for your interest in membership at King of Grace. We are honored to be worthy in your eyes even of an inquiry into joining our church family.

Costco and Sam’s Club and Anytime Fitness and your local credit union and any other number of organizations all talk about membership, but what does membership in a local church mean? Membership at King of Grace is a mutually recognized commitment to one another that we are in this together. You make certain promises to the church and the church makes them back to you in a formal covenant.

Here are some ideas of the promises we’ll make to you and the commitments we’ll ask you to make to us.

We’ll start with one thing that is not an exclusive benefit of membership, and that is participation in our worship and Bible studies. Everyone is welcome to grow in the knowledge and truth of God’s word through sermon and study and to express gratitude and praise to God in worship, even if you or others don’t choose to be members of this congregation.

Your Membership Blessings

But there are some blessings of membership beyond worship and Bible study:

personal application of the means of grace
There are times when you may desire more personal assurance of the forgiveness of sins than the general absolution in the Sunday worship service. Our pastors receive private confession from members and offer specific gospel application of forgiveness.

Our pastors also bring the comfort of the gospel to bear through devotions and private administration of the Lord’s Supper during hospitalizations, before surgeries, in times of bereavement, and at other times of special challenge in the lives of the Christians under their care.

Christian counseling
Our pastors are committed to the individual well-being of all our members and are available to help you apply law and gospel to certain situations in your own life. Additionally, the congregation pays for professional counseling from Christian Family Solutions when it exceeds the particular training of our pastors.

financial assistance
Unlike our modern experience, the first century church shared everything they had so that there were no poor among them. They supplied the material needs of their fellowship. We would like to follow their example. Our modern privacy mindset makes it difficult to ask for help in this way, but please let a pastor know if you are struggling.

friendship
Friends are found in many places, but there is a special bond among the believers in a local congregation. Our members would like to offer you their friendship and emotional support—to share in the ups and the downs in the rhythms of life. We cultivate the local community and sense of belonging that is missing in much of our urban and digital lives today.

coaching in Christian living
God would have his people be a light shining in a dark world, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. But the Devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh are active forces in dragging us down into sin. God promises help in our struggle through his Word and Sacraments, but also through the intervention of the community in our lives. It is a blessing when another Christian notices and brings to light sin of all different kinds, that we may examine ourselves and root it out.

a larger fellowship
King of Grace is itself a member of other organizations, particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, enjoying fellowship in pulpits and altars across the country and around the world. The ELS owns and operates Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN, a private liberals arts college offering baccalaureate and masters degrees. We are also a member of the West Lutheran High School association in Plymouth, MN. King of Grace members receive discounted tuition at both institutions, as well as at our own PK–8th grade school located on our campus in Golden Valley.

Your Membership Commitments

There are some commitments our members make when they join the bond of fellowship:

doctrinal agreement
All members of King of Grace are committed to a shared interpretation of Holy Scripture and the doctrinal statements derived from Scripture. We do not shrink from such commitment, even if it is unpopular in certain times, places, or cultures. Some prominent examples include:

• the inerrancy of Scripture on all matters of which it speaks—including history, geography, and science
• infant baptism
• the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper
• amillenialism
• single predestination
• male pastors and complementarian theology
• sexual expression exclusively within the bounds of heterosexual marriage
• permanent, lifelong marriage commitments
• protection of life from conception

More details about what these terms mean and their scriptural bases can be found online at:
https://www.kingofgracelutheran.com/beliefs
https://els.org/beliefs/we-believe-teach-and-confess/

In print, our catechism offers a clear guide in Q&A format and a copy is freely available by request to a pastor.

close Communion
Membership entails an exclusive fidelity to the fellowship of the Lord’s Supper in this local congregation. All who participate together in Holy Communion are claiming and demonstrating to each other and to anyone watching that they are one body in faith and understanding of Scripture. It is hypocritical to participate in two congregations that are not in agreement with one another—such an individual would be lying to the people in one or the other church. Christian congregations of other denominations and fellowships are Christian, and yet our differences can’t be ignored. Close Communion is intended to be a way of expressing that truth in a loving way, not a judgmental way.

financial support
The teaching and evangelism work of King of Grace is supported entirely by donation. While non-members are certainly welcome to support the work of this congregation, we don’t expect such support from them. We do not believe 10% tithing is a scriptural mandate binding today, but neither do we imagine that God’s standards for generosity would be lower for New Testament Christians than for Old Testament believers. We admire tithing and encourage members to privately challenge their hearts to greater levels of generosity. Beginning with a percentage equal to one’s 401(k) or other retirement plan contributions is appropriate.

regular attendance
While the word ‘regular’ means different things to different people, members are committed to attending in-person worship as much as possible, prioritizing it as the most important activity of the week and gladly hearing and learning from the Word of God. While receiving teaching from King of Grace can happen through online channels, contributing to the King of Grace community does not happen there. When absent from worship for a time, members are glad to hear from others and from one of the pastors personally.

community
Just as you receive the benefit of community as a member of King of Grace, so you contribute to that local community. Members actively cultivate relationships both in-person and online, gladly attending social events and bonding with other members. You don’t know which is the day someone else will have experienced trouble and need the comfort of your presence.

volunteering
Some of the work for our grounds and building are contracted to professionals. But members are committed to volunteering their time in many ways for the health of the congregation and its other members. See https://www.kingofgracelutheran.com/volunteer for a sampling of possibilities.

But don’t wait for pastors or program directors to ask you to do something. Don’t wait to serve by looking for a church-sponsored program. If you see a need, fill it. The church is not a religious club brimming with ministry programs, but a family brimming with servants.