The Obligations of Church Membership

By: Dr. C.F.W. Walther


 

The following statement is Walther's address to new voting members who signed the church constitution.  Doctor C. F. W. Walther was the first President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  This is the way your grandpa’ church used to operate.

 

(From: "Church-Membership: Addresses And Prayers at the Meetings of the Ev. Lutheran Joint Congregation of St. Louis, Mo., and Its Board of Elders by Dr. C.F.W. Walther" Translated by Rudolph Prange, CPH, St. Louis, MO. 1931, Pages 48-49)

 


 

“THE OBLIGATIONS OF CHURCH-MEMBERSHIP”

 

By signing our constitution, you have assumed a twofold obligation, the general obligation of a Christian and the special obligation of a voting member of our congregation.

 

The general obligations of a Christian you assumed already when you were baptized and confirmed, and by signing our constitution, you have merely repeated the promises previously made.  Those promises consist in this, that as Lutheran Christians you will believe and confess the truth and lead a godly life.

 

The new obligations which you have assumed are these: -

 

  1. That you will not absent yourselves from public worship, neither on Sunday nor on any festival day nor on a weekday, unless you are compelled to do so;

  2. That you will attend every voters' meeting unless prevented by circumstances beyond your control;

  3.   That you will at all times be concerned about the welfare of the congregation and foster it in every way possible.  That you will –

  • Give us the benefit of your advice;

  • Always vote for what you consider right;

  • Contribute according to your means toward the support of church and school and of the poor in our midst.

  • When voting for new pastors, teachers, elders, or other officers of the congregation, let your vote be prompted alone by your concern for the congregation's welfare;

  • Gladly submit to admonition from the Word of God; when you see others sin, practice brotherly admonition instead of talking about them behind their backs; and when a case of church discipline comes up for discussion, proceed strictly according to the Word of God;

  • Submit to the rules and regulations made by our congregation, see to it that others observe them, and do all that is in your power to foster harmony;

  • In case doctrinal controversies should occur (which we ask God graciously to prevent), judge strictly according to the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions.

 

4. That you will often pray for the congregation;

5. That you will patiently bear with the weak in our midst;

6. That you will join no other religious organization; especially not a secret order; that  you will not send your children to the non-religious public schools;

7. Finally, that you will faithfully remain one of us unto death or until the Lord may lead you elsewhere.

 

If you succeed with the grace of God in carrying out these promises, your membership will prove a blessing to others; but above all you yourselves will enjoy the fruits of our vineyard.  May God graciously grant it! Amen.

 

April 12, 2004