Anyone can participate in our common life at Restoration: Sunday Teams, Table Groups, Sunday Worship, outreach and service opportunities, church events, mission trips, Series, retreats and conferences, and training events are open to anyone. We fully expect that there will be a wide range of people with a wide range of beliefs about God who join us for different parts of our life together. We want this! We want to be accessible to all in our cities so that many people can experience the unique wonder of grace God offers us in Jesus Christ. Jesus attracted vast multitudes who interacted with him and held many different opinions and understandings about him.

Jesus also had smaller groups he surrounded himself with, people who were expressly committed to following him and to living as part of the Kingdom that he was creating: the three beloved disciples—James, John, and Peter; the 12 apostles; the 72 whom he sent out on mission; the 500 who saw him after his resurrection. Similarly, we want to be a church that has a defined membership core around Christ our center, even as we welcome all who are curious and want to know more.

Per our church bylaws:

2.1 Requirements for Membership

"Members" serve as the primary ministers of the Church, participating in God’s mission in the world and caring for the needs of those within the Church. A person is a Member of this Church who:

(1) has been baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit;

(2) is at least 18 years old;

(3) personally requests membership;

(4) believes in the Christian faith as set forth in the Nicene Creed;

(5) strives to live a life congruent with the teachings of the Bible, marked by these core values: Reconciliation, Hospitality, Contemplation, Wholeness, Mission

(6)  undertakes practices that foster spiritual formation and growth, including regular attendance at worship and active participation in the life of the Church; 

(7) promises to support the Church through financial giving and active participation in the mission of the Church;

(8) has been formally received as a Member by the Church.

We recognize that “joining” a church is a very familiar idea to some people and a very foreign one for others. If you’re unsure about the whole membership thing, here are a few benefits of membership you might want to consider:

You are choosing to live in line with the New Testament exhortations for Christians. It’s inconsistent to say, “I like Jesus—I just don’t like the church.” Jesus never imagined that his disciples would live out their faith in isolation from others. He expected that everyone who came after him would commit themselves to a local community of believers. You don’t necessarily need to be a member of Restoration, but you do need to be a member of a church somewhere.

You get to shape our common life at Restoration. Only members can vote in the annual Parish Council elections. The Parish Council are leaders of the church who provide practical leadership and oversight—so the choice of Parish Council members significantly shapes life at Restoration.

You have the opportunity to serve in leadership at Restoration. For example, only members can serve on the Parish Council, join certain leadership teams like the Missions or Compassion teams, or represent Restoration at regional events.

Absolutely. Our life as a community is open to everyone. You can read Scripture in Sunday worship, serve communion, be an usher, participate in a small group, serve on a mission team, pray for people, give your tithe, and play on the worship team! You may fully immerse yourself in our common life. However, we urge you to re-visit the membership question on a regular basis.

Belonging to a community through good and bad is a critical component of discipleship and of maturing in Christ.

So you’ve been at Restoration for a while and have decided to take the membership plunge. We’re so glad. We still ask that you come to the two-hour class.

No doubt you’ve learned a lot about our church from worshiping with us, participating in small groups, or serving Minneapolis with other Restoration folks. But before we ask you to join our community, we want to be sure you know what our community is all about—our history, our values and expectations, our vision of the kind of church God is calling Restoration to be. A lot of those things can be “caught,” but it’s also important that they’re taught. The class is the best opportunity we have to do that teaching. It’s also your best opportunity to ask us questions about our life as a church.

The exception to this is if you are transferring membership from another Anglican church within our diocese. If that’s the case, reach out to Pastor Rick.

We strongly recommend that you attend the reception in person, however if there are extenuating circumstances, we can receive you in absence.

In that situation and because we value the physical act of making a public vow to the congregation, we would still recommend you participate in the reception liturgy the next time it is offered.

Being confirmed in the Anglican Church is not the same as becoming a member of a local congregation. Confirmation is a public confession of faith (see more on this below), while becoming a member means making a commitment to our specific community.

Membership is different than Confirmation. From the 2019 Book of Common Prayer, p 412:


In the course of their Christian development, those baptized at an early age are expected, when they are ready and have been duly prepared, to make a mature public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism and to receive the laying on of hands by the bishop.
Those baptized as adults…are also expected to make a public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism in the presence of a bishop and to receive the laying on of hands.

At confirmation, the bishop says, “Strengthen, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit; empower him/her for your service; and sustain him/her all the days of his/her life. Amen.”

If you were baptized as an infant, confirmation is a public declaration confirming your baptismal vows. It is a statement that you want to follow Jesus as your the one who forgives you (your Savior) and leads you (your Lord). If you were baptized in other Christian denominations or traditions, confirmation is also a declaration that you want to live out your faith in the context of the Anglican tradition.

Restoration is still working towards offering our own confirmation program. In the meantime, we encourage those desiring to be confirmed to do so through our sending church, Church of the Cross.

The Parish Council is an elected board who wisely and prayerfully help lead our church. They are responsible for the oversight of our finances and our facility, and they partner with our clergy and staff to discern God’s vision for Restoration.
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