I’ve just finished Wayne Mack’s fascinating little book, To Be or Not to be a Church Member? and would like to heartily recommend it.  It was published by Calvary Press Publishing in 2004.  Mack is apparently an elder at Grace Fellowship Church of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.  He’s a graduate of Wheaton College, Philadelphia Seminary, and Westminster Seminary.  This last school, coupled with the fact that he quotes Kuiper twice in a seventy-five page book, tripled with the fact that the church has plural elders, quadrupled with the fact that the church recommends the 1689 London Confession of Faith leads me to believe that Mack is reformed in his theology and baptistic in his convictions, as is his church (despite their non-denominational label).

He’s written an intriguing little book that calls for a return to substantive church membership.  He frames the book around ten reasons why you should become a church member.  (Sidenote:  Where was reason #2!!)  His quotations are very helpful, especially the fascinating Spurgeon quote where we see a young sixteen-year-old Spurgeon threatening his lazy pastor with calling a meeting of the church himself to present himself for membership if the pastor did not do so soon!

It is an imminently biblical book.  Mack makes compelling use of the New Testament and I found myself thinking more than once, “Never thought of that before!”  He firmly links membership with discipline and accountability.  He also provides Grace Fellowship’s membership questions (for both the prospect and the church), which was very helpful indeed.

This would be a great little book to incorporate in some way or other into a new membership class.  It is practical, helpful, straightforward, and convincing.