Placing Membership<\/a>.” In it, you state, “Please consider a few reasons why it is both Scripturally permissible and Scripturally necessary to place membership with a faithful church of Christ after leaving another.”<\/p>\nCan you elaborate on the “few reasons” why it is permissible for a member or family of members to leave a scripturally sound congregation and place membership at another one?<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
Brother Moses was addressing a problem that I’ve seen frequently in my area. The Omaha metropolitan region is quite transitory. People move in and out frequently. Sadly, we get visitors who tell us they moved into the area one month, three months, or six months ago. They just got around to checking out what congregations are in the area. I already know these people are not going to be faithful Christians because to them convenience is more important than service.<\/p>\n
When I worked for a secular company and was told I would be moving for my next assignment, one of my first tasks was to locate where the nearest sound congregation was located because that determined where I would be looking for a house. I would contact the brethren to find out more about the area. And as soon as I arrived I was at the services.<\/p>\n
Your problem is different. You speak of several sound congregations in your area, but you qualified it with “perceived” which indicates that you don’t really believe they are the same. You mentioned that there have been numerous problems in your congregation and there are vague hints that the problems weren’t handled well. You have disdain for one of the former preachers. You mention that the congregation didn’t handle the COVID scare well. These are not marks of a strong, sound congregation.<\/p>\n
The question is whether these attitude problems are rooted in the membership of the congregation or transitory. Are you able to stabilize the situation and encourage the brethren to overcome the difficulties? If, despite your best efforts, it looks as if the group isn’t going to improve, then I understand the need to move to a congregation that understands what it means to be a fellowship of the Lord’s people.<\/p>\n
What I believe is wrong is for people to hop from congregation to congregation without an attempt to solve the problems in their current congregation. Or, to continuously hop from congregation to congregation and never become a part of a group.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Dear Brother, I’ll get right to the point with my question, and then some brief context. When is it permissible scripturally for a member and or their family to switch local congregations? The context We live in a town with several [perceived] biblically sound congregations, of which my family and I are a part…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[544],"class_list":["post-40864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-membership"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12727,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-god-view-switching-congregations\/","url_meta":{"origin":40864,"position":0},"title":"How does God view switching congregations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, Mr. Jeffrey! My husband and I have decided to switch our church membership to another local body of believers. God says that He places each member how He sees fit (I Corinthians 12:18), but I cannot find a biblical reference to how God moves people to different\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36014,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-some-churches-using-bassing-in-their-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":40864,"position":1},"title":"Why are some churches using “bassing” in their worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is your opinion on one song leader bassing into the microphone (or beatboxing as I call it) while the other lead songs? It seems like a lot of our churches of Christ are starting to feel comfortable with this practice. I thought sing means singing. And if we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/giving-up-on-the-little-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":40864,"position":2},"title":"Giving Up on the Little Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert E. Speer via\u00a0Think on These Things, April-May-June, 2011, Volume 42, Number 2 Many years ago - Ouch! Has it really been that long? - my family and I responded to a plea from another family to join them in a work they were trying to establish on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/LittleChurchInTheWoods.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":69119,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-cant-find-a-good-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":40864,"position":3},"title":"We can’t find a good congregation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I'm facing a dilemma and seek guidance to do the right thing. My husband and I used to attend the only church in our area that lacks a kitchen. We stopped going because the preacher left, there are no elders, and the men currently leading the church are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52500,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-stay-with-this-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":40864,"position":4},"title":"Should we stay with this congregation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Having moved about, my wife and I have worshiped with many congregations that follow the New Testament pattern. Currently, we are visiting a congregation that has a part-time minister and one elder. How this came about is murky. 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