The assimilation of church members into the local faith community
In this article, the assimilation of members into the faith community is discussed. When a church
has found its identity in being a ‘missional faith community’, the outcome is growth. Growth
cannot take place if the church is unable to assimilate new members into church life. People are
only assimilated into the faith community when they are interconnected through relationships,
and experience a fundamental sense of belonging. This article discusses aspects of membership
assimilation, namely intention, active participation, and culture. A model is proposed whereby
leaders can evaluate the functional worth of people for the faith community at any level of
assimilation. This model can also assist leaders in creating processes to assimilate members more
effectively.
Hierdie artikel handel oor die problematiek van die assimilasie (oftewel opneming) van nuwe lidmate
in die plaaslike geloofsgemeenskap. Assimilasie verwys na die geloofsgemeenskap se vermoë om nuwe
lidmate by die gemeenskap te integreer, en hulle in liefdevolle verhoudings aan mekaar te verbind. Dit
dui dus op ‘n verskeidenheid formele en informele prosesse wat mense in staat stel om deel te word
van die geloofsgemeenskap (Dudley 1998:114). Wanneer ‘n geloofsgemeenskap ‘n missionale identiteit
ontdek, is groei die uitkoms (Basson 2006:37). Groei kan egter nie doeltreffend plaasvind as daar nie ‘n
effektiewe assimilasieproses in die geloofsgemeenskap bestaan nie (Ford 2007:49). Hierdie artikel wys
op verskillende noodsaaklike aspekte ten opsigte van die assimilasie van nuwe lidmate, en stel ‘n model
voor wat die grondslag vir toekomstige assimilasieprosesse in geloofsgemeenskappe kan uitmaak.
