For all practical purposes church membership as defined by most church leaders is far from the truth. Church membership is characterized generally as a “coming forward” to confirm or announce one’s submission to Jesus, the Christ (a public confession at some starting point) and intention or desire to JOIN the local assembly which one stands before, symbolically and physically. The person agrees to serve, contribute financially (with reminders every week of course), and be submissive to the church leadership. There are variations; however, most would agree to this general outline. The only problem is that it’s not valid.
With the move from Hwy 290 to Woodedge, we changed the “C” in LRC from church to COMMUNITY!
That does not mean that we’re not a church, but rather, that we are the “kind of church” that more fits in with what true spiritual church membership is to be as we interpret the New Testament. In this “community of believers“, there are different opinions on many things. You can believe in the rapture or not, the virgin birth or not, literal or metaphorical Bible interpretation, and just about any other major doctrine. The reason why this is not only permitted, but encouraged, is because………………
“All dogma is partial and all doctrines are provisional”.
That which is true IS true and that which is true and not yet known is also true. There are many true things that we as of yet do not know. Many could be known if we opened our minds, became more gentle and tolerant of ideas that “other” people have, and truly want to know the TRUTH that we might be FREE.
True church membership is when a group of people come together in UNITY with JESUS, love each other, are forgiving, tolerant, and seeking to BECOME like Jesus. It isn’t about regular attendance, program loyalty, nor doctrinal agreement. I’ll take “community loyalty and tenure” over regular attendance and legal adherence any day.
Why does that have to be so difficult? 
The church is meant to be a “community of believers” that is consciously dedicated to maintaining, strengthening, and modernizing the incarnation of Christ. The community can best bring Jesus alive not by holding on to and trying to preserve old forms and language that are more than difficult to explain in today’s scientific understandings, but by bringing the FAITH forth with power and practical living demonstration.
Once more: why is that so difficult?
The answer is because we allow our EGOS to dominate our relationships and not God’s Spirit- which is love and loving. We want to be right and to have “our views” recognized as orthodox, though most can’t even define the concept. The reality is that when we let Jesus become the FOCUS and not our opinions the LOCUS, true fellowship and church membership can be realized.
The TRUTH really does set you FREE! 
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