HOW?

At Clear Creek Community Church we say, “membership starts in group.” What we mean by that is that the first step in being a member at Clear Creek Community Church is to become an active participant in a small group. The process goes like this:

• Register and participate in GroupLink at the next opportunity (our bi-annual event to help people find and join groups) or accept an invitation from someone to join an existing group.
• Read “Missional Community.” When you’ve completed it follow up with your small group Navigator about membership. Your Navigator will help you complete the process.
• That’s it! We look forward to serving Jesus with you.

WHY?

If you’d like to understand a bit more about why Clear Creek structures membership the way we do, read on. The following will help you understand the why behind our membership process.

A member at Clear Creek is a person who has made a covenant commitment to grow their personal faith in Jesus, and to share the gospel of Jesus with unchurched people in their lives. That is our mission.

Simple enough. But the term “membership,” confuses people.

In our culture being a member in some organization has transactional connotations. So, for instance, we invest in membership at Costco or Sam’s. Then we evaluate – based on our experience – if what we get is worth what we invest. If we are satisfied, we continue, if we are unsatisfied, we stop. The same is true for the golf course, the marina, the Fitness Center, etc.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Many organizations depend on that kind of “membership.” But the church is not like any other organization in our culture.

What we have always wanted is that membership at Clear Creek would be a covenant relationship. A covenant relationship carries unique demands but provides a unique sense of belonging.

So, membership in the church is about creating and maintaining a series of spiritually significant, and even spiritually demanding relationships – because those kinds of relationships are necessary for spiritual growth.

In a covenant relationship, we make a promise to remain in the relationship regardless of how we feel in any given season. The commitment we make is more significant than our feelings. A person who enters a membership covenant at Clear Creek says:

“I make a promise to adjust to the culture and values of this particular local church – and, to bear with the faults.

I am taking my part in the body of Christ at Clear Creek Community Church, and I will add the gifts and resources God has given me to those of every other member of Clear Creek so that together we can accomplish our mission of leading unchurched people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus.”

When you think of membership in terms of a covenant relationship it will help you understand why we do it the way we do at Clear Creek. A covenant relationship requires the kind of relationships we have the opportunity to develop in small group. That’s why we say, “membership at Clear Creek starts in group.”