Why Membership?
In a low-commitment culture, being a member of something speaks loudly. Being a member of GREFC indicates that you are committed to this church family, to be held accountable by other believers, to love and devote time to this church family, to support our mission and vision, to support the church financially, and to have a say through your vote in how the church will minister to our community. Essentially, you are committing to being “all-in” with us and you “identify” as being a GREFC member.
Becoming a Member
After spending some time with fellow believers here at GREFC and learning about our church, we encourage you to delve deeper into our core beliefs, the EFCA denomination, our doctrines and theology and consider becoming a member. We offer a membership information class for those interested in committing to being a faithful member of Grand Rapids Evangelical Free Church.
In these classes you will learn:
Who We Are: The background of the Evangelical Free Church of America as well as of the Grand Rapids Evangelical Free Church in Minnesota, the church’s doctrinal beliefs and values, and the church’s constitution and bylaws.
Who You Are: This class offers a SHAPE profile which is a series of assessments that will help you determine how God uniquely made you to serve Him and others. These assessments include:
- Spiritual Gifts: a survey to help determine the spiritual gifts God has given you to benefit the body of believers
- Heart: assessment of your passions including your role (what you like to do), people (who you like to help), and causes (what you would like to see changed
- Abilities: the natural talents and skills you were born with
- Personality: the Myers/Briggs inventory is used to identify different aspects of personality that will help you see the way God made you and the unique way you fit into the church
- Experiences: assess how your past experiences have grown you into who you are today through past ministry, work, educational, spiritual and painful experiences.
Where We’re Going: God has a unique calling for every church. This class will introduce you to GREFC’s Mission, Vision and Discipleship Framework.
Application and Interview
After completion of the classes, those wishing to continue on to membership will be given an application to fill out. After completing the application and giving it to the Elder Board to review, we will schedule an interview by the Elder Board and Senior Pastor. It is preferred that husbands and wives complete the interview together.
The interview is casual and not meant to cause anxiety. You are simply asked to give your faith story of how you came to know and follow Jesus. You may be asked some questions about your story or anything in your application. You are also given the opportunity to ask questions of the Elders.
At the end of the meeting, the Elders will vote on whether or not to nominate you as a member to the congregation. Your membership is complete when you are voted in by the congregation during the next Quarterly Business Meeting.
