Membership Expectations of Asbury United Methodist Church

With the underlying principles of John Wesley as our guide, we base the following recommendations on these reflections:

• The Christian life is a journey made possible by God's grace.
• Our growth in grace is a process that unfolds over a lifetime.
• We need to respond to God's grace in a responsible way.
• We need to be intentional about our spiritual growth.

The following are expectations of membership at Asbury:

1) All new adult members of Asbury will complete a "New Member Orientation" class and will be assigned a mentor. 2) All members of Asbury will be asked to pledge the following: Attend weekly worship unless sick, out of town or working. Pursue at least one means of growing in faith, in addition to weekly worship, with the intention of further developing a relationship with God and fellow Christians. Put faith into action by becoming actively involved in Christian ministry. Grow toward the tithe, giving in proportion to income.

Asbury will support members in meeting this pledge by encouraging members to complete a survey that explores spiritual gifts and by promoting small group development for the purpose of spiritual growth through Bible study.

Asbury will also strive to choose its leaders and teachers based on holding people accountable to the pledge they have made to the church.

We believe the above recommendations are important if we want our church to grow and thrive. If our expectations are set too low we will continue in mediocrity. Developing relationships and being involved in small groups is vital in helping our church to grow.

Ad Board will oversee these actions by directing the Lay Leadership & Development Committee to utilize the above pledge criteria when appointing members to serve on Administrative Board, Staff- Parish Relations Committee, Trustees and Finance Committee. Lay Leadership shall be granted access to attendance records and the level of financial giving (not actual amounts).

Those involved in teaching in our Christian Education programs will be encouraged to seriously consider making the above pledge of membership.

We also recommend the establishment of a "Shepherd Team" who would be charged with keeping an eye on changes in members' attendance and involvement in church activities. When a decrease in involvement is noted, the member would be contacted to see how the church might better serve them or to give encouragement as needed.

They would also contact inactive members to see if they still desire to be a member of Asbury or if they have been attending another church and wish to have their membership transferred. If they desire to remain a member of Asbury, their participation would be encouraged. A listing of inactive members would be reported to the Ad Board with exceptions noted for people with special circumstances (living in a care facility, attending college, etc.)