Running a church membership course is one of the best ways to integrate new people in the your church or church plant. A membership course doesn’t have to be tied to formal or legal membership if your church has these, it’s simply a way for newcomers (and even those who have been around for longer) to find their place in the church family.

Typically a course for members will aim to unpack how the church applies the Scriptures and how people can get involved in the life of the church. It’s a very quick way for newcomers to learn lots about your church’s theology, practices, and patterns, that might otherwise only be picked up over months or years.

This course, God, Church & Me, was written as a newcomers course for Trinity Church Mount Barker, and has since been implemented with various degrees of modification in churches around Australia and further afield.  It was originally written for the launch of the church in 2010, and revised in 2015 and 2019. 

These Bible studies formed the first half of each of God, Church & Me’s four sessions. 
Who is Trinity?  Examining salvation by grace through faith, and the equipping of the church for works of service leading to maturity in Christ.
What are we on about?  Where we see God’s plan to bring unity to everything under Christ, and the Apostle Paul’s model of ministry, “setting forth the truth plainly.”
Where does the Bible fit?  Looking at what the Bible teaches about itself, particularly the implications of the Scriptures being one unified story that centres on Jesus. We also consider Jesus’ teaching on prayer in this session.
How do I get involved? Thinking about the shape of gospel ministry in the New Testament, and also the challenge of being disciplined in using our money for ministry.

The second half of each God, Church & Me session is a workshop time explaining how the Bible’s teaching on each of these areas is applied in the life of the church.