The Rite Stuff for Membership

Belonging and the Significance of Rituals for Our Life Together

By Judy Stack

Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated New Member Welcome during the 10am service. It was a joyous time, welcoming 12 adults and three little ones as new members of St. John’s. We rejoiced in the variety of gifts and backgrounds they bring to our community.

But the question arises sometimes, and not unfairly: Why do we have this ritual? Why do I stand up and present them like candidates being baptized? Can’t people just decide St John’s is the place for them, maybe talk to one of the clergy, and that’s it? Why all this formal rigamarole?

Aside from “because we’re Episcopalian and we like rituals and liturgies,” there’s a more substantive answer— part theology, part psychology.

The Holy Spirit at Work

First of all, we believe that it’s not merely a private decision when someone discerns that St John’s (or any church) is the right place for them. It’s not finding “what works for you” the same way you find a new shampoo. We believe that it is a work of the Holy Spirit.

It is a holy and public decision to join yourself to a community, so we make it a holy and public act. The congregation commits themselves to the new members and the members commit to join in the ministry—because relationships requires a level of mutual accountability. It is a commitment we will often keep imperfectly, but it is one we will be reminded of each time we welcome new members and repeat the words of that promise.

Being Fully Present

Rituals and habits can both be good and powerful, but most authors¹–religious writers and those who study behavior more generally–tell us there is one key difference between them. Habits have, in some sense, the goal of becoming unconscious actions (you do them without thinking). But rituals have the opposite goal: they are repeated actions in which we are made hyper-conscious. To use a common phrase these days, we become mindful or “fully present” to the activity we are doing.

This is part of why we ritualize the joining of new members. It has deep meaning for those joining and for those who are welcoming them. We want to be fully present to the significance of people finding their spiritual home at St John’s, and so we mark that with ritual. 

Much like Eucharist, it is a ritual by which we are reminded of who we are, and through repetition are brought more deeply into living out the things we say in those commitments. 

Other Types of Membership Rites

In the wider Episcopal church, adult membership usually happens through:

1. being confirmed if you were baptized and have never been confirmed;
2. being received into the Episcopal church if you were previously confirmed at a church that was not Episcopal; or
3. transferring formally from another Episcopal church.

Here at St. John’s, we developed the New Member Welcome liturgy because we honor the fact that not everyone wants to be an Episcopalian, or is ready for baptism, confirmation, or reception—but everyone desires to belong in community. We do not want anyone who feels called to this place as their spiritual home to be hindered. So for everyone who desires it, we acknowledge that discernment and make clear our commitment to walk together through the seasons and cycles of our Christian life, regardless of their sacramental status.

However, there are also good reasons to look into these other membership processes: transferring your membership formally, or being received or confirmed if you haven’t been.

Visible Signs of Invisible Grace

The first reason is spiritual. The catechism tells us that sacraments are “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace.” (Book of Common Prayer Pg 857).  By going through these rites, we name and identify what is taking place. There is something deeply sacred in these actions.  

Most of us have been to many weddings and seen many babies baptized; yet, again and again we are deeply moved by the familiar words of promise—promises from God to us, and from us to God and each other. Baptisms and weddings publicly solemnify (to use a fancy church word) things that could be private commitments (to raise a child in the faith, to be in a committed loving relationship).

The rituals of reception and confirmation are similar. Like a wedding ceremony, they are public acts that create a new relational reality–one that not simply reflects the interior reality, but makes it publicly manifest in a special way.

Widening Circles of Community

The second reason to look into one of these other membership processes is practical. Each year, our parish submits a report on our membership to our diocese. It doesn’t have a category of “welcomed”—the only folks we can report to the diocese as full members are those who are baptized, confirmed, received, or transferred. So when they look at our church’s membership numbers, any of us who are welcomed but not transferred, received, or confirmed don’t get counted. And while within St. John’s we may recognize you as an active and trustworthy member of the community, if you are called to serve in some official capacity in the church—say, on vestry or as a delegate to the diocesan convention—you need to be a full member according to diocesan guidelines.

All of that may seem like parliamentary and bookkeeping nonsense to you. But this is really part of the mutual accountability mentioned above. Just as new members make formal commitments to the church they are joining, we make formal commitments to the larger church community in order to participate in these two widening circles—the diocese of ECMN, and the Episcopal Church. Our membership matters in relation to them. So if you have been not participated in one of these membership rituals, we invite you to take that step:

•  At St. John’s, we joyfully baptize candidates of all ages. If you have never been baptized, consider publicly declaring you are ready to be adopted as a beloved child of God, a member of the body of Christ, and inheritor of God’s Kingdom.
•  If you have never been confirmed (made a public affirmation of the faith and promises spoken on your behalf when you were a child), think about the spiritual significance of saying those baptismal covenant promises for yourself, expressing a mature commitment to Christ, and receiving strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop.
•  If you feel that God is calling you to be a part of the Episcopal Church from another denomination, please consider participating in the Rite of Reception and have the opportunity to make public your commitment to what God is calling you to.
• If you have been baptized, confirmed, or received into the Episcopal faith at another congregation, St. John’s would like to be aware of and honor those important sacraments in your faith journey by transferring your records to our safe keeping.

Many of you will be getting emails from me personally enquiring about whether one of these is something that seems appropriate for you.

Coming up on April 27 there will be a service of confirmation and reception at the cathedral in Minneapolis. If you have been welcomed but have never been confirmed and/or received, I want you to consider it.

• If you would like to explore being baptized: speak to one of the clergy.
• If you would like to explore being received or confirmed either on April 27 or in the future:  you can learn more and fill out an application here, or speak to me or one of the clergy.
• If you need to transfer your membership: you can speak to me, or fill out this form and return it to the office.

1.  Some accessible articles on the topic are here and here and this one with many links to research. ↩︎