Six Perspectives on Dual Church Membership

I love local churches. I just love them.

I know they are filled with imperfect members. I know all the members are sinners and occasional hypocrites just like me. That reality has not changed since the first century.

But I just love local churches.

And I love being a member of a local church. First Corinthians 12, in essence, gives three qualities of healthy church members: they are committed; they are serving; and they are accountable.

And lest you missed it, the word “member,” referring to church members, is in 1 Corinthians 12 five times. Church membership is biblical and church member is a biblical term.

But what do we do with the concept of dual membership? As a rule, most of us believers should belong to one and only one local congregation. We need to be accountable to one body and ministering where we live. But I can see some exceptions. For discussion, then, let me throw out six perspectives on belonging to two different churches.

Keep in mind, there are doctrinal and polity issues that could preclude dual membership. I certainly want to respect the integrity of each local church. Let’s consider, then, these six perspectives on dual church membership:.

  1. Yes: If the member truly lives in two different locations throughout the year. Obvious examples include “snowbirds” who migrate south in the colder months, and businesspersons required to live in two locations because of their unique jobs.
  2. Yes: If the member has a high probability of returning to the original church in the near future. A college student moves out of state but plans on taking a job in her hometown when she graduates. She might do well to minister and serve in both her college church and then her hometown church. A soldier is stationed in another state or country but will be coming home. Both might do well with dual membership.
  3. Yes: If both churches embrace dual membership. In some contexts, churches do not allow dual membership, but they will allow you to become affiliated with their congregation “under watch care,” whatever that means.
  4. No: If the church member knows he is not returning, but he has a sentimental attachment to one church. Moving is difficult. Leaving a church we love is tough as well. But that is no reason to stay tied to a congregation where you will never serve in the near future.
  5. No: If the member wants to escape accountability. I actually heard a church member say he has dual membership, and he has become accountable to neither church. There must be an understanding of accountability in each church.
  6. No: If the member must compromise doctrinally with either church to join. There are some good churches where I disagree with their doctrines on secondary and tertiary issues. I could not and would not join them. I don’t doubt their faith, but I can’t compromise my beliefs either.

For the past few years, I have been advocating the concept of “I am a church member.” In a few cases, it might be okay to say, “I am a member of two churches.”

I hope you will engage with me on this issue. There is so much to discuss, affirm, and, possibly, disagree.

Posted on August 1, 2016


With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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80 Comments

  • Dr. Rainer, what are your thoughts on fully being part of two churches at the same time? I am part of a house church that meets at a time that would not interfere with attending another church on Sunday mornings. While we don’t have official membership in the house church, I am a part of this church, so think that is in essence the same? I only think of it because I have the time, and am not sure if more involvement can ever be a bad thing? My tithe is currently spread between giving to missionaries and various Christian organizations, and figure I’d give the portion of my tithe that isn’t already committed to missionaries monthly to a church if I joined another. What are your thoughts?

  • Thom, we have a couple of international missionaries that have membership in their church on the field and are members here at West Conroe. It is a blessing to us to have this close relationship with the missionaries, and they have expressed how much they appreciate having a “home” church back in the States.

  • I recently dealt with a #4 situation. Even though I agree with Dr. Rainer on this point, we went ahead and allowed dual membership. A pastor has to choose his battles wisely, and I didn’t feel this one was worth the fight.

  • I think you left out one VERY important reason: The Gospel. I live in Israel, and while most congregations here don’t have “members” per se (no one is voted on, we don’t have a meeting to decide if you are in line with the leadership). I am a “member of two congregations.

    In both congregations I need to be a confessing believer of Jesus and I have to have been baptized to be permitted to take breaking of bread. A member is defined by commitment.

    So I am a member and attend “business” meetings for both congregations. One, my “home” congregation is where I get my primary support. I sing on the worship team, and I am active in the home group.

    The other is a Chinese Church that I have been a part of for 20 years. I teach an English class using the Bible as a text book, and because of the lack of mature believers (we have a Pastor, his wife, and attendees comprise Chinese students and Chinese workers), I also teach once a month in the regular meeting (at the request of the Pastor).

    I attend all activities of both congregations, and when there is a conflict–they both trust me to chose involvement in the activity where I am most needed.
    Unusual, yes…. but I think that modern churches forget we are part of a bigger body which is the CHURCH worldwide.

    I hope these thoughts are profitable for discussion and a Godly perspective of just what it means to be part of the body of Christ.

  • Galen Morrison says on

    Thom… my wife and I are members a local Southern Baptist Church south of town. It is where we regularly worship and serve. However, downtown near my office is a United Methodist church I attended 20 years ago. They UMC has a mid-week service at noon every Wednesday where the Lords Supper is offered. One aspect of my Baptist church membership is we rarely participate in Holy Communion (maybe three or four times a year). My wife and I thoroughly enjoy the mid-week communion service near my office at the Methodist church. It’s not dual membership, but mention to some of my Baptist friends that we attend the communion service once or twice per month, and we get some strange looks. They almost act like we are cheating on our regular church.

    Then… throw in the fact that I also meet with two Church of Christ friends for lunch and prayer on Tuesdays, and I get more stares.

    It’s all the body of Christ, right?

    Your thoughts?

    • My reply to Galen is one of understanding and agreement. Aside from those times when one attends the occasional onetime church event as a guest or visitor (e.g., concert, seminar, etc.), I believe it is acceptable to augment or supplement one’s local church experience by visiting another congregation, such as for the Lord’s Table, or a specialized Bible / theological study, etc. Two points to add…1) this above scenario causes me to reflect on the distinction between the Local church versus the Universal church – allowing for fellowship with other Christians beyond the local congregation; 2) where a local church may be lacking in an area of desired ministry, there might lie the possibility of starting something new so it is no longer necessary to supplement that need elsewhere.

      • Galen Morrison says on

        Thank you, Doug. Unity of The Church has long been a sticking point for me. I strongly agree that church membership is important, but I also observe those who seem almost afraid to socialize or befriend people from other congregations. It seems that sometimes our local church membership is viewed as more important than our universal church membership.

  • Douglas Law Jr says on

    This is a great topic and discussion here. Two questions / concerns come to my mind which apply to my personal experience: 1) I have currently gone through the interview process several months ago at a church where I’ve been a regular visitor for some time. I am anxious to officially become a member but no announcement yet about the next “Membership Sunday”. A couple of years ago at the same church (under an interim pastor) I was even placed on six-month probation before being considered for membership, apparently due to my lack of seriousness about committing to that church at that time. Is it possible that this church has an Annual Church Membership policy (as you refer to) which explains my situation there – past and current?; 2) What about the common scenario where a person is searching to move to a new local church? The rule of thumb for finding a new church is to visit there about four conservative Sundays. So during this transition period, does the dual membership apply until the final decision to move on has been made?

  • I once attended a church in Hawaii with a large military contingent. Some people decided to join right away, while others were faithful in attendance and service while keeping their membership with their “home” church in another state where they never attended. I was curious how these faithful attenders who didn’t move their membership handled their giving. Our church was small and certainly could have used the financial resources of the people who were being served.

  • Being removed from childhood church, by new Pastor, for absenteeism while I was serving in the US Navy was hurtfully. Being told that enough council members were present to vote on me if I wanted to rejoin was worst. Why not make your member feel like they are coming home after their absence rather than worrying about duel membership.

  • Duel membership is not as bad as being removed from the rolls for absenteeism while serving in the US Military. The worst part came when the Pastor asked if I would like to rejoin and that enough council members were there to on me being allowed to ”join” the church. No thanks.

  • The situations I’ve seen are snowbirds, Chaplains (who might be accountable to one denomination, but while posted worship at another local church), and members who have strong attachments to a home church and don’t move their memberships. There’s another category the members who move away, change denominations and never ask for a letter. Technically they are still members of their old church until it gets around to erasure which usually happens every decade or so.

  • As an old style Baptist of the Southern persuasion, I do not see any Scriptural warrant that I am somehow accountable to any church hierarchy. Rather, I see the church as a voluntary association for the propagation of the gospel.

    With that I also see the need for church discipline. We transferred a lot job wise when younger, and I learned quickly it was very important to find out what a church taught and stood for. If I agreed, I would ask to join. If I disagreed, and if there was no church in the area with which my understanding of the Bible more closely agreed, I would serve as much as I could but not join.

    Our rules were four: 1. Know what you believe Scripture teaches. 2. Try to find a like minded church and join it. This will take care of discipline issues for the most part. That is, if I believed it allowable to do something and the church had a rule against it, I should either not join or join and obey their stand, not work to change it. Not a big problem for me, since I didn’t cheat, dance, drink, or smoke and those were usually the big discipline issues. 3. If you cannot find a truly like minded church, but can find an acceptable one, meet with the pastor. Do them the courtesy of quietly stating you won’t be joining because of a difference over xyz but let them know you affirm the vast majority of their stance, and will not be a problem. Then do what you can when you can. 4. If the pastor cannot accept that, and wants you “under his authority” on all matters, run out the exit as fast as possible and don’t look back.

  • Brad Dixon says on

    How about this?
    1) Active members have indicated they will serve, give, and participate in the church.
    2) Inactive members attend and my participate in the church.
    3) Membership of any kind be declared for a length of time. Perhaps membership should be chosen on an annual basis with clearly stated expectations.