Partnership/Membership

Right after we started the church we went from having members to having partners. We did this not so we could be cool and have a different name but to reflect what the New Testament teaches about involvement in a local church. Biblically I think you become a member of the church, God's family, when you become a follower of Jesus Christ by grace through faith alone in Christ alone. Ephesians 4:2-5 and 1 Corinthians 12:13 seem to indicate this to me.

There is only one church in our area or the world - The church of Jesus Christ! The Bible though does communicate that there are many local fellowships that gather for encouragement and scatter to spread the Gospel in the area. You see this in the book of Acts, the New Testament Epistles and the book of Revelation.

In the Bible belt Christians think being a member of a local church is a lot like being a member of a health club instead of joining a revolution! Church leadership have unfortunately many times adopted ideas to woo people to join our flavor of church but do we ask them to join the mission of the Gospel in our community?

This is why at Crossbridge we have decided to call people who have joined our church, "Partners" and not members.

The main inspiration for this has been Philippians 1:4-5.

"In all my prayers or all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now."

The word for partnership in the Greek is "Koinonia". It means "fellowship with, and deep participation in anything."

Being a part of a local church is not about "what you can get out it". You should get support, encouragement, care and equipping but the church in America leans more now toward consumer's rather than mission. The church is here to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the world. We are hear to be salt and light in our community so that we might point people to the hope of the world - the Gospel.

We invite people to participate with us in bringing the Gospel to our county. We invite people to lay down agendas and expectations and to throw a servants towel over their arm and play!

When people want to join >Crossbridge we have a partnership class called "ENTRO" that we require people to go through. In this class we try to cast the vision of what it means to be a community of people that partner together in the Gospel mission.

I believe in the church. I pray the Lord will keep purifying us so we might be about His mission to redeem people for His glory and their joy!