Five Oaks "Survival" Manual - What Membership Means

I like to say that membership at Five Oaks is about trying to be a church that is at least as organized as the local little league teams. In little league you know who is on the team, people commit to practice and go to the games, and kids learn to play in their sweet spot while developing skills and learning to be good team players.

So when people ask me what membership means at Five Oaks, I really don't have any verses to quote saying something like, "Thou shalt join the local church." Membership wasn't necessary in the early church. Just showing up put you at risk socially and sometimes politically. You participated in the church to investigate Christianity or to grow in your faith and help others grow. There were no parachurch ministries or denominational options, just interconnected house churches.

Things have changed a bit and different denominations and churches have different membership traditions. At Five Oaks it's about affirming your relationship with Christ (so that you bring spiritual discernment to church decisions and you are qualified to serve in some roles that require a faith commitment) and committing to be an involved and contributing team member. You are saying, "You can count on me and I will do my part."

Every once in a while someone tells me they are against the concept of church membership. I doubt they are against what we mean when we say church membership. Unless, of course, they're also against registering their kids for the local little league team.

Staff Leadership Changes (Part 2)

I am very happy (actually, quite exhilarated) to announce that Kent O'Grady has agreed to serve on staff as our Small Groups Ministry Coordinator. If you don't know Kent, he's the one who shared his faith story on Easter. You can watch it below.

Here's a picture of Kent arresting me for excessive eating at the State Fair. I hear this is what happens when someone misses his small group meeting without an excused absence.

This is a great win for Five Oaks and our small groups ministry for several reasons:

• Kent is an extraordinary small group leader, serving in that capacity for years at Five Oaks.
• Kent is an outstanding leader, teacher and trainer. Kent recently retired as a Major in the State Patrol, one of four Majors who report to the Colonel leading the Patrol.
• Kent gets Five Oaks and our emphasis on small groups like no one else I know. 
• This will free up our new Hudson Campus Pastor from having hands-on, day-to-day oversight of our Adult Ministries so he can focus more on taking the Hudson campus to the next level of ministry impact and growth and so he can focus more on preparing weekend messages as part of the preaching team.  
• Kent's proven ability and vision for developing leaders through coaching, encouraging, training, and equipping will have a huge impact on our small groups ministries. 

Be sure to welcome Kent in his new role.

Here's Kent's faith story we played in our Easter services.