Purpose and Status

This resolution records the Elder Board’s biblical and pastoral understanding of the Church’s two ecclesiastical membership designations. It explains why Covenantal Membership and Affirming Membership belong together within the elder-led government established by the Restated Articles of Incorporation, Constitution, and Bylaws. Scripture and the order of authority stated in Constitution Section 9.01 control.

Recitals

WHEREAS, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, and all authority exercised in His Church is received from Him, limited by His Word, and ministerial rather than sovereign or self-created (Matthew 16:18–19; 28:18–20; Ephesians 1:22–23; 2 Timothy 3:16–17);

WHEREAS, a local church is an identifiable fellowship of believers who credibly confess Christ, receive believer’s baptism, and voluntarily join themselves to worship, learn, serve, bear burdens, pursue holiness, and walk in spiritual accountability under Scripture (Acts 2:41–42; 2 Corinthians 8:5; Hebrews 10:24–25);

WHEREAS, a church covenant states those mutual commitments but does not save, justify, add to the Gospel, or bind the conscience beyond Scripture; membership rests on grace received through faith in Christ and is lived out by that same grace (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16; Titus 2:11–14);

WHEREAS, Christ has entrusted to His Church the spiritual stewardship commonly called the keys of the kingdom, exercised through the ministry of the Word, the ordinances, and biblical correction and discipline, for the honor of Christ, the good of His people, and the repentance and restoration of sinners (Matthew 16:19; 18:15–20; John 20:21–23; 1 Corinthians 5:1–13; 2 Corinthians 2:6–8);

WHEREAS, Christ appoints qualified Elders to shepherd, teach, guard doctrine, oversee discipline, equip the saints, and lead the affairs of the local church as a plurality of equals under the Chief Shepherd, so that no pastor, officer, or gifted individual becomes the church’s source of authority or object of confidence (Acts 14:23; 20:17, 28; 1 Timothy 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9; 1 Peter 5:1–4);

WHEREAS, the members of Christ’s body are not passive, because the Spirit gives gifts and discernment for mutual ministry, and Scripture calls the church to informed participation, counsel, witness, correction, encouragement, and restoration while its Elders discharge their distinct responsibility to rule and give account (Acts 6:3–6; 1 Corinthians 5:4–5; 12:4–27; 2 Corinthians 2:6–8; Hebrews 13:17);

WHEREAS, Covenantal Membership identifies the flock that has voluntarily undertaken the Church Covenant, and Affirming Membership identifies among that flock those whom the Elder Board has recognized as mature, informed, and faithful participants able to provide formal ecclesiastical counsel on weighty matters; this distinction concerns responsibility and readiness, not differing worth, grace, access to Christ, or standing in the body;

WHEREAS, the Church’s structure joins real elder authority with meaningful congregational counsel in order to resist both domineering leadership and factional or popularity-based control, to expose decisions to prayerful discernment, and to keep trust fixed on Christ and His Word rather than on personalities, titles, gifts, numbers, or human acclaim (1 Corinthians 1:12–13; 3:4–7, 21–23; 4:6–7; 1 Peter 5:2–3);

WHEREAS, the Church seeks God’s blessing through humble faith and obedience, knowing that no membership system or form of government can produce spiritual life, replace prayer, guarantee wisdom, or merit divine favor; fruit comes from Christ, and faithful order is an act of trust in what He has revealed (Psalm 127:1; John 15:5; James 1:5; 1 Corinthians 14:40);

WHEREAS, the Corporation has no statutory members under Minnesota law; Covenantal and Affirming Membership are exclusively spiritual and ecclesiastical; every affirmation is nonbinding spiritual counsel; and the Elder Board must separately take and record every corporate action and retain its fiduciary responsibility under the governing documents;

Board Resolution

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Elder Board adopts the following understanding and direction:

1 The Church reaffirms the Church Covenant stated in Constitution Section 3.03 and the biblical explanation given in the earlier Resolution Concerning the Adoption of a Church Covenant. The covenant remains subordinate to Scripture and is neither a condition of justification nor a rule that binds the conscience beyond Scripture.

2 The Church shall implement Covenantal Membership and Affirming Membership according to Constitution Article IV and Bylaws Article II. Covenantal Members share fully in the ordinary spiritual life, worship, fellowship, service, pastoral care, and discipline of the Church. Affirming Members are qualified Covenantal Members entrusted with an additional, defined ministry of formal counsel and affirmation.

3 Affirming Membership shall never be taught or administered as a higher grade of Christianity, a claim of greater spiritual value, or an entitlement to influence. Its purpose is to identify members whose demonstrated maturity, faithfulness, participation, and informed support make their counsel especially useful on the matters specified in the governing documents.

4 The Elder Board shall ordinarily seek the prayerful affirmation of active Affirming Members in the matters and at the thresholds stated in the Constitution and Bylaws. The Board shall provide adequate notice and explanation, receive counsel fairly, weigh it seriously, and then deliberate and act by a separate recorded Board vote. An affirmation does not itself appoint or remove an Elder, discipline a member, amend a governing document, bind the Corporation, or transfer fiduciary responsibility.

5 The Elders shall exercise authority as a qualified plurality of equals. They shall teach the Church, invite appropriate counsel, disclose material reasons to the extent lawful and prudent, use disinterested processes when required, report decisions faithfully, and pursue repentance, protection, restoration, peace, and purity in all discipline and governance.

6 All members shall be encouraged to honor Christ through the Church Covenant, use their gifts, speak truth in love, pray for their leaders and one another, pursue reconciliation, test teaching by Scripture, and receive biblical shepherding. Formal affirmation is one ordered expression of these duties and does not exhaust the ministry or discernment of the whole body.

7 The Elder Board may adopt membership applications, instruction, interviews, reaffirmation practices, roll procedures, ballot forms, discipline procedures, and related policies consistent with the Articles, Constitution, Bylaws, this resolution, and Scripture.

8 Appendix A is approved as a pastoral and procedural explanation of the biblical doctrine informing this resolution. It is not a creed, governing-document amendment, or adoption of John Cotton’s complete polity. Scripture remains supreme, and the Church’s governing documents control its procedures.

The Keys of the Kingdom and the Health of the Church

Purpose and Authority

This following explains the doctrine that supports WCC’s membership and eldership structure. John Cotton’s The Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven is a helpful historical witness because it distinguishes Christ’s sovereign authority, the ministerial authority of Elders, and the real liberties and responsibilities of the congregation. Cotton is not a governing authority for WCC, and his conclusions are received only where they faithfully summarize Scripture and remain consistent with WCC’s Statement of Faith and governing documents.

Christ Alone Holds Sovereign Authority

The keys belong first and finally to Jesus Christ. He builds His Church, opens and shuts, gives offices and gifts, and supplies every spiritual effect and blessing. Cotton therefore describes all authority given to human servants as stewardly and ministerial. Elders may teach and apply Christ’s commands; they may not invent a new law for the conscience, rule as owners, or make themselves indispensable. The congregation may discern and counsel; it may not replace Christ’s Word with preference, pressure, or numbers. (Matthew 16:18–19; 28:18–20; Revelation 3:7; Cotton, chapters I and VII)

The Keys Are Gospel Stewardship

In Cotton’s summary, the keys include the preaching and application of the Word, the administration of the ordinances, and the correction or censure of sin. They open and close the church’s visible fellowship by declaring and applying what Christ has said. They are neither civil force nor sovereign legislation. Their proper end is faithful proclamation, holy communion, repentance, restoration, and protection of the flock. WCC expresses the same boundary by separating ecclesiastical membership and discipline from ownership, civil power, and corporate voting rights.

Elder Authority and Church Liberty

Cotton assigns ruling authority to the Elders and substantial liberty to the brethren. Elders examine, teach, prepare matters, and pronounce or administer a decision within their office. The church exercises a judgment of discernment through informed participation, consent, objection, counsel, reception, correction, and restoration. Cotton believed that these together formed the ordinary exercise of church power in a healthy congregation. His purpose was to keep authority from collapsing into either clerical domination or ungoverned popular rule. (Cotton, chapters IV and VII.)

Cotton and the WCC Structure

WCC draws from the same biblical distinction between ministerial authority and congregational liberty, but it does not adopt Cotton’s polity in every detail. Cotton gives the gathered brethren a more direct role in choosing officers and concurring in censures, best described as congregationalism. WCC instead places final ecclesiastical and corporate action in the Elder Board and uses formal affirmations as nonbinding spiritual counsel to ensure the voice of the congregation is considered. This is a genuine difference. WCC’s model remains accountable only if the Elders treat counsel as meaningful, teach and disclose faithfully, act as a plurality, and remain strictly bound to Scripture and the governing documents.

Biblical and historical principle	WCC application	Guardrail
Christ is the sovereign Head	Scripture governs doctrine, conduct, ministry, and order	No policy, leader, affirmation, or custom may overrule Scripture
Elders hold ministerial authority	A plurality of qualified Elders forms the Elder Board and takes final action	One vote per Elder, equality of authority, biblical qualifications, fiduciary duties, and no unilateral pastor
The church has real liberty and discernment	Affirming Members provide formal counsel on specified weighty matters	Counsel is informed and seriously weighed but does not become corporate action
Believers walk in ordered fellowship	Covenantal Members commit to worship, discipleship, service, stewardship, pastoral care, and discipline	The covenant is subordinate to Scripture and is not a condition of salvation or justification
Weighty matters benefit from broader counsel	The Board gives notice, explains proposals, receives affirmations, and records separate decisions	Transparency, participation standards, disinterested procedures, and faithful reporting restrain secrecy and self-protection
A local church is responsible under Christ	WCC remains independent of external ecclesiastical control while free to seek counsel	Outside advisors and church relationships assist but do not own property or govern the Church

Why Covenantal Membership Matters

Covenantal Membership makes the pastoral relationship visible. It identifies those who have voluntarily joined this local church and undertaken mutual duties under Christ. The Elders can know whom they are charged to shepherd; members can know the body with whom they are called to worship, serve, reconcile, receive correction, and bear burdens. The covenant replaces neither conversion nor baptism. It gives an orderly local expression to the fellowship that follows them.

It distinguishes committed fellowship from mere attendance without treating visitors as unwelcome.
It gives pastoral care, discipline, restoration, and transfer an identifiable relationship and fair process.
It joins personal faith to mutual discipleship, service, stewardship, and love within a particular body.
It states the duties members accept while preserving the supremacy of Scripture and the freedom of conscience under Scripture.

Why Affirming Membership Matters

Affirming Membership provides an orderly way to obtain mature and informed counsel without creating a second board or transferring the Elders’ duty. Weighty questions require more than a momentary show of preference. The additional qualifications ask whether a person has demonstrated regeneration, baptism by immersion, sustained participation, faithfulness, doctrinal understanding, and support for the Church’s government. The resulting affirmation gives the Elders evidence of congregational discernment and unity before they act.

This category must be administered humbly. Affirming Members are not more justified, more loved by God, or more necessary to Christ’s body than other Covenantal Members. They receive a defined responsibility, not a title of honor. Inactive affirming status suspends formal affirmation only; it is not discipline and does not end Covenantal Membership. Public qualifications, consistent processes, and periodic teaching in classes aim to prevent the category from becoming an inner circle based on personality, wealth, family, longevity, or agreement with current leaders.

Why the Eldership Model Matters

WCC’s Elders bear the responsibility to teach, shepherd, guard doctrine, oversee discipline, equip the saints, and direct both ministry and temporal affairs. Their authority is substantial, but it is bounded. Every Elder must meet biblical qualifications, every Elder has one Board vote, titles describe function rather than rank, and no pastor or officer may govern alone. Separate Board action makes responsibility identifiable; affirmations and transparent reporting keep the Board connected to the discernment and condition of the flock.

This model is healthiest when the Elders neither surrender their duty to a vote nor dismiss the wisdom of the body. They must decide, but they must also listen. When counsel reveals confusion, unresolved objection, possible sin, or lack of unity, the Board should slow down when circumstances permit, teach further, investigate fairly, pray, and explain. Emergency authority remains possible, but the duty to account for its use remains.

Guarding the Church from Pride and Personality

Churches become vulnerable when they attach Christ’s work to a favored leader, family, faction, donor, or majority. Scripture rebukes the boasting that says, in effect, “I follow Paul” or “I follow Apollos.” Ministers plant and water, but God gives the growth; every gift is received; and no servant may lord authority over the flock. WCC’s structure will therefore direct honor toward faithfulness while directing dependence toward Christ alone. (1 Corinthians 1:12–13; 3:4–7, 21–23; 4:6–7; 1 Peter 5:3.)

Plurality limits the concentration of authority and requires Elders to persuade one another from Scripture.
Equality of Elder votes prevents a pastoral title, compensation, platform, or gift from becoming superior governing authority.
Affirmations let mature members expose blind spots and bear witness to unity without becoming owners or rulers of the corporation.
Disinterested votes, notice, an opportunity to respond, and separate records restrain self-protection and procedural manipulation.
The covenant calls every member, including every Elder, to repentance, reconciliation, correction, service, and love.

Seeking the Blessing of God by Faith

The Church does not trust a constitution, membership roll, affirmation percentage, or Board procedure to create holiness or secure success. Christ alone gives life and growth. Yet faith does not disregard what He has said. WCC seeks God’s blessing by ordering its life under Scripture, praying for wisdom, using the gifts God supplies, keeping clear lines of responsibility, and correcting sin in truth and love. The form serves faithfulness; it does not replace the Spirit’s work or place God in the Church’s debt.

The desired fruit is a church in which Elders can shepherd without domination, members can participate without fear or factionalism, discipline can protect and restore without partiality or abuse, and every gift can serve without becoming a platform for pride. Such health is received from God as grace and pursued through ordinary obedience to His Word.

Calling for Ecclesiastical Affirmation – A Procedural Practice

For a matter requiring or ordinarily calling for an ecclesiastical affirmation, the normal pattern will be:

1 The Elders examine the matter under Scripture, the governing documents, relevant facts, and their fiduciary duties.

2 The Board gives the required notice and enough explanation for informed prayer and discernment, while protecting lawful and pastoral confidentiality.

3 Active Affirming Members ask questions, pray, and provide the requested affirmation as spiritual counsel rather than as a contest for control.

4 The Elders seriously weigh the counsel, address material concerns, and decide whether additional teaching, investigation, delay, or revision is needed.

5 The Elder Board takes any ecclesiastical or corporate action by its own separate recorded vote under the applicable standard.

6 The Board communicates the result and reasons to the Church to the extent lawful and prudent, then continues the necessary shepherding, implementation, correction, or restoration.

Selected Scripture for Continued Study

Matthew 16:18–19; 18:15–20; 20:25–28; 28:18–20 • Acts 2:41–42; 6:1–6; 14:23; 20:17, 28 • 1 Corinthians 1:10–13; 3:4–7, 21–23; 4:6–7; 5:1–13; 12:4–27; 14:40 • 2 Corinthians 2:6–8 • Ephesians 4:1–16 • 1 Timothy 3:1–13 • Titus 1:5–9 • Hebrews 10:24–25; 13:7, 17 • 1 Peter 5:1–5

Source Note

Primary WCC sources: Restated Articles of Incorporation, Articles V and VI; Constitution, Articles II through VI and Section 9.01; Bylaws, Articles II, III, VI, X, and XI; and Resolution Concerning the Adoption of a Church Covenant. Historical source: John Cotton, The Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven and Power Thereof according to the Word of God, first published in 1644, especially chapters I, IV, and VII. This appendix paraphrases Cotton’s distinctions and does not adopt his work as a confession or governing document.

Covenantal and Affirming Membership