The “new” membership vow

As we have discussed the familiar membership vows of The United Methodist Church, we have noted that much of our congregation came into membership at a time when the vows were “prayer, presence, gifts and service.”  But, in 2004 the church added a fifth component: “witness.” 

The rationale for this was that the church came to regard the historic vows as primarily “inwardly focused and institutional in nature.”  The church included “witness” as being a commitment that more fully reflects the stated mission of the UMC: “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

I admit to having mixed feelings about this addition, even though it is now seventeen years old.  I admit that I am one who embraces change hesitantly.  It appeared to me that the church not only endured but flourished under the old language.  If the four-fold set of vows were inwardly focused, I could contend that these qualities of praying, attending, supporting and assisting formed the spirits of a church member so that other, more far-reaching expressions of discipleship would grow organically from a solid foundation. 

From a practical, logistical standpoint the alteration of the membership vows made much of our printed material counter-Disciplinary.  For example, the ritual in our United Methodist Hymnal that we employ in receiving new members or membership transfers is no longer in keeping with church law.  The Rite known as Baptismal Covenant III is essentially useless at this point.  This same liturgical material appears in the 1992 United Methodist Book of Worship and it too is outdated.  The church has been slow to provide churches with revised materials for worship and for study.  The United Methodist Church last made a major statement on Baptism (and church membership) in 1996!  That is eight years before it changed the membership language and obviously a quarter-century removed from us today.

But there is another side.  I affirm the change not merely out of resignation, but out of hope.  If a person comes into full membership – what the church actually terms professingmembership” – by vowing to engage in the ministry of witness, I guess I am all for it.  It is easy to see membership (and even discipleship) as being a kind of island existence, where a believer (or member) lives out their faith without relating to other people.  I know that “witness” carries a certain baggage with it.  Those of us who are of a certain age may equate witnessing with standing on a street corner, annoying passers-by by shoving religious tracts in their hands.  But as we consider witness more completely, we see that the disciples of Jesus Christ witness with their mouths, with their hands, with their feet, and with their resistance.  We testify to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in what we say, what we do, how we act, what service we render and, _and_ in what we refrain from doing.  A Christian does live a life under a microscope.  Rather than resenting that, I believe we should embrace it.  If everything we do is an opportunity to glorify God, why not take advantage of the opportunity.

 So, prayers, presence, gifts, service – and witness: it’s not a new idea.  Not anymore.