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| Q: | I recently began attending my church's Bible instruction class for new members. I have been a member my whole life, but I thought that it would be a good refresher class. One of the other women in the class and I have become good friends. In some of our conversations, she has mentioned that she became a member after taking only 6 of the 16 classes. She was hesitant to do so, but our pastor said that she could join. Now as she is finishing the other lessons she says that she does not agree with what our church teaches on many topics. At the time that she was confirmed into our church, she said she agreed with the 6 lessons that she had gone through. She does not feel that she should be taking Communion when she does not agree. I told her that she should talk to our pastor about this. She said she just could not do that. Do you have any advice on what I would say to her, or is this something that should be dropped? The other thing that I am wondering is why people are becoming members when they have not attended all the classes on what our church teaches and believes. One couple last night was saying they have no religious background and this was their first experience looking at the Bible. Yet, on Sunday they are being accepted into membership in our church! I do not understand this! | ||||||
| A: | You should be commended for attending your congregation's Bible Information Class. This class truly is a wonderful way to grow in your own faith and develop relationships with other sisters and brothers in Christ. That's exactly what has happened with you and your new friend. It appears your friend has developed a fine understanding of the fellowship element in Holy Communion. She has come to understand that only those united in faith partake of "the one loaf" together (cf. 1 Cor 10:17). At this time she does not believe she is united in common faith with your congregation due to the disagreements she has with some of the teachings of the church. Therefore it is proper for her to stay away from Communion at this time. It is also proper for her to try to resolve this situation. Please keep on encouraging her to speak to your pastor about this. She won't be hurting his feelings; he wants to know about this situation because he has been called to shepherd her soul. Right now she has major questions about confessing her faith and the best thing to do would be to bring her questions to your pastor. You asked about the number of lessons a person should finish before becoming a member. Most of our congregations require that the Bible Information Class be completed by the prospect before we ask him or her to publicly confess a common faith with the congregation. But there is no scriptural rule on the number of lessons. The Scriptures do encourage a true unity of faith within a group of believers that congregates to create a visible church (for example, see 1 Cor 1:10). There is no set number of lessons to assure this unity, but your friend's situation would be a good argument for actually completing the class before being welcomed into membership. If you have misgivings or an unclear understanding about the membership policy at your church, you should feel free to ask the pastor to explain it to you. | ||||||
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