Five Signs that a "Membership Covenant" = "Cult"

The blasting open of the news that members of the immensely popular and rapidly growing The Village Church cannot freely leave the church without approval from the all male, all self-selected elders has stunned a lot of people.

I’ve written some about it here. A thorough time-line can be found here. Blogger Amy Smith is especially to be commended here for bringing all this to light with the accompanying documentation.

So now the question is being raised in the minds of many: Is it reasonable to call The Village Church a cult because of it’s high member expectations?

The Village Church’s doctrinal statement and membership covenant is available online. It’s a long document so I’ve copied below some of the particularly relevant portions that relate to the responsibilities of the member:

I covenant…

• to submit to the authority of the Scriptures as the final arbiter on all issues (Psalm 119; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21).
• • I will seek to preserve the gift of marriage and agree to walk through the steps of marriage reconciliation at The Village Church before pursuing divorce from my spouse (Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12; Luke 16:18; 1 Corinthians 7:10-11; for the role of the church in the process of divorce, see Paul’s concern for the resolution of legal matters within the assembly of the church in 1 Corinthians 6).

    elp to put my sin to death (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5; James 5:16; 1 John 1:6-10).

  • • to submit to the elders and other appointed leaders of the church and diligently strive for unity and peace within the church (Ephesians 4:1-3; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5).
    • to do the following should I leave the church for righteous reasons:
      • to notify the appropriate staff member on the campus I attend.
      • to seek another church with which I can carry out my biblical responsibilities as a believer.

The Watermark Church, similar in doctrine and beliefs and also rapidly growing, makes this explicit statement in its document containing the doctrines and membership obligations:

SECTION 4: CARE AND CORRECTION OF PARTICIPATORY MEMBERS It is the responsibility of the Board of Elders, as described in Acts 20:28, to “be on guard for themselves and all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

Shepherding includes both the care and correction of the sheep. As a consequence, the Board of Elders may separate a member of the flock from Membership for:

• departure from his previously expressed agreement with “Our Beliefs”;

• conduct that mars the testimony of the church or evidences a continued unrepentant departure from biblical morality;

• manifesting disinterest and/or inactivity in the life of the church; or

• other reasons as set forth in the Scriptures.

The separation process shall follow that laid out in Scripture. By applying for and accepting Membership in this church, all Members submit themselves to the care and correction of the Board of Elders, and may not resign from Membership in an attempt to avoid such care and correction [Bold face mine].

So is it a cult?

Yes and no. Yes in that it clearly says that that the Elders in the church get to have full authority over the members. No in that the membership covenant is clearly seen ahead of time. This is not the case with other groups, particularly the Mormons, where I understand full membership expectations are not disclosed until much later in the recruitment process.

However, emotionally, churches with these kinds of membership covenants function more like a cult. Personal and social lives revolve around the church and the people within it. People must have permission to leave. Leaving without permission is often accompanied by various types of shunning activities on the part of those still inside the walls, which would include one’s closest friends and very much the friends of one’s children.

Five Hallmarks of a Subtle Cult

Here are my suggestions for recognizing whether or not a religious organization functions like a cult, albeit with significant subtlety.

1. Who selects the governing body? Is it self-selection, i.e., they decide among themselves who will serve in that role, or does the wider group of members get to decide who will serve in authoritative leadership over them? If the former, beware. This is the most dangerous sign.

2. What are the gender/age/ethnic make-up restrictions on the ruling body? If it is restricted to one demographic group (the most common is males-only) beware. This means the viewpoints of those not a part of the power elite will be routinely disregarded and dismissed as deceived or not objective. The viewpoints of the ruling body will be seen and publicly pronounced as biblical and offing objective truth.

3. How much power does the ruling body have over intimate husband-wife decisions? The Village Church membership covenant explicitly states that any couple contemplating divorce must subject themselves to counseling by the (all-male) elder board’s supervision and that they must recognize them as final authority. The result is that a group of men, often young, untested, and not trained as therapists, get to peer into intimate matters between husband and wife and make binding decisions upon their future. If so, beware, particularly any language that gives them “final authority.”

4. What does the leaving process look like? Are there restrictions upon the types of churches a member might join upon moving away?  Again from the Watermark Church document:

1.Voluntary termination of Membership is available to any Member in good standing upon written request of that Member. Where appropriate, upon request, Members may be granted a letter of transfer to the evangelical church of their choice. The Board of Elders may reinstate voluntarily terminated Members upon satisfactory fulfillment of the new Member process and approval.

Note the “may be granted a letter of transfer to the evangelical church of their choice” language. That means those who signed this covenant must have the church leadership approve any new church they may choose. That is too much power. Beware!

5. How is the congregation told to treat those who are leaving? If there is any expectation that those who leave or who are “caught in sin” must be shunned or member interaction with them must be limited in any way, beware. Again, this puts entirely too much power in the hands of a limited few who cannot possibly know all things.

Now, having said this, I also think that setting high expectations for membership in a church has much value. These expectations make clear that becoming a member of a church does indeed have obligations both to God and to the local body. Personally, I think the baptismal vows found in many liturgical churches are exactly what we need:

Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?

Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves? 

Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?

These, combined with promises to support the church with prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness, seem more than adequate and profoundly biblical.