©2011 Debra Brown Gordy.  All Rights Reserved.


Introduction

Can you imagine - or remember if you had this experience - what it is like to be a new

member of the church?  Do you remember what it was like to be learning all the new

principles you were learning, the new people you were meeting, and the new customs and

lifestyle you were becoming introduced to?  Do you remember what it was like to become

familiar with the language – the “Mormonese” that we speak, that reflects our unique view

of the world through the Gospel lens?  Do you remember the excitement, the joy, the

eagerness, and perhaps a little bit of uncertainty, overwhelm, intimidation or worry, as

you were becoming a part of your new church family?  

Do you have a friend, a child, a parent or other loved one, who has embraced the gospel

path?  Have you shared her journey, and observed her joy, excitement, and the gamut of

feelings, questions, and perhaps confusion she experienced as she continued her journey

from eager new member to stable, engaged participating member of the community of Saints?

Do you remember what you felt, and what you needed, or what you have seen your loved ones

and friends experiencing and needing?  

As we consider what we can do and how we can support new members in their early months in

the church, it is helpful to remember what we have felt and needed in similar

circumstances, or what those we care about experienced and needed when they were new in the

church.  It also gives us perspective, draws our hearts toward one another, and helps us

deepen our own discipleship to consider not only what or how but also why it is so

important that we fellowship new members.


Becoming Fellowcitizens with the Saints

When we join the church, many changes continue in our lives.  Among the most significant of

those changes, is something Paul described as becoming a “fellowcitizen with the Saints,

and of the household of God”.    To early Saints, this symbolized a very significant change

in circumstances and group identity and belonging.  

In many parts of the ancient world, to be a citizen of Greece or Rome was the pinnacle of

belonging and group identity.  If you were a Roman citizen you had rights, privileges and

protections that few others had.   You had the protection of Roman law wherever you were in

the Roman Empire, and you had the corresponding rights of Roman law.  Most significantly,

you were a part of a privileged class - an inner circle - and everyone within that circle

was equals.  If you were a Roman citizen you were a peer with everyone else who claimed

that same status and privilege, just by virtue of being a Roman.  

Unlike in our time, however, not everyone was a Roman citizen, even if you were born in

Rome, or to a Roman father.  If you were a woman, or a member of an ethnic or racial

minority, if you were indentured or enslaved, or if you were a white male who did not own

land, you were not a citizen, and therefore not afforded the privileges, rights and

protections of Roman citizenship.  Significantly, you were also not a part of the inner

circle, and not a peer among equals.       

If you were not a Roman citizen in the ancient Roman world, you were forever an outsider, a

foreigner and a stranger.  You were forever in a lesser status than anyone else who was

blessed with the privilege of Roman citizenship – just by virtue of their being a Roman,

nothing more.  

Paul uses this clearly understood example when he writes to early Saints in Ephesus,

teaching them that just by virtue of becoming a Christian and joining the church, they now

become insiders, only now they become insiders of an even more special and privileged group

– they become fellowcitizens with the Saints and of the household of God.  

Paul teaches,

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles (or in other words, outsiders) in

the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision (not of the covenant) by that which is called the

Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

That at that time, ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,

and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world;

But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of

partition between us;

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in the

ordinances; for to make in himself of twain, one new man (or person), so making peace;

And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity

(or the division, group differences) thereby:

And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

For through him, we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the

saints, and of the household of God.”  


This fundamental change in belonging and identity not only applies to men, Paul taught, but

to women, to children and youth, and to people of other backgrounds – to people everywhere,

no matter our outward circumstances of birth or life path.   

           “For ye are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus.  

            For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

            There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is

neither male nor female:  ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”    
 
Whoever will come, MAY come.  The invitation is open to all, and when we accept the

invitation, we are in – in the circle, in the club, we become part of the community of

Saints.    

When we choose to be baptized, we are saying we choose Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

They have already called and chosen us, we show that we are choosing them through the

action of baptism, this is how we accept the invitation, and once we do, we are in.  

This same principle was understood and taught among the Nephites, when Nephi taught,

         “(The Lord) inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness;  and

he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female;

and he remembereth the heathen;  and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”  

 
Out of our many different roads, life experiences and paths, out of our seeming

differences, we become one – one in Christ, and through Christ and his Atonement.  We all

become part of our Heavenly Father’s household, heirs of the covenant, equals and peers one

with another, by virtue of receiving Christ and becoming a member of the church through

baptism.  

Paul describes this as becoming part of the body of Christ:

      “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body,
        being many, are one body; so also is Christ.

        For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
        whether we be bond or free;  and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. . .

        That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the
        same care one for another.”  

We are to care for and about one another, to nurture and look after one another just as

genuinely as we do our families, because we are literally all members of the same heavenly

family and the household of our Heavenly Parents.


Genuine Fellowshipping ~ Loving our Brothers and Sisters as we Love Ourselves and our

Families

This then, gives us some deepened perspective and insight about what fellowshipping really

is, and on what we really are to be doing, when we talk about fellowshipping new members.  

President Hinckley’s famously spoke about three needs that every new member has.  He

summarized them this way:

“With the ever-increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial

effort to assist them as they find their way.  Every one of them needs three things:  a

friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with ‘the good word of God’ (Mor. 6: 4)”.

He shares the story of a young man he had the privilege to teach and baptize on his

mission, and how this young man became disaffected from the church as a new member, due to

the actions and attitudes of others in his new church family.  President Hinckley shares

about the efforts he made to find and genuinely befriend this person, even though he had no

returning desire to once again return to fellowship with the church, and the great sorrow

that he, President Hinckley felt, when his friend died, still uninvolved with the church.  

Elder Ned B. Roueche` of the Seventy, describes his experiences of a contrasting nature,

when he as a young man, was invited to participate in a special way in a Young Men and

Young Women’s activity.   He accepted the invitation to participate, and was greeted warmly

and with real love.  He enjoyed the experience he had at the activity, and the next Sunday,

attended Church for the first time in several years.  One thing led to another, and Elder

Roueche` became converted.  He ultimately served a mission, married in the temple, and has

continued his involvement and commitment to the Gospel path.

He describes that experience of being invited to participate in a Mutual activity as

changing his eternal life.  

It seems that the differing outcomes these two individuals experienced in their lives, came

about because of genuine love.  During a tender, teachable time, Elder Roueche` felt

genuinely loved and cared about by the people in his ward.  They came along beside him,

created genuine, real relationships of caring, interest and support.   They encircled him

in the arms of their love, the way they would one of their own children, and it made an

eternal difference in his life.

President Hinckley’s friend, sadly, did not have this experience.  In his tender time of

learning and growth, he experienced the opposite, and so he left.

It is genuine love, based in the recognition that we are all fellowcitizens in Christ, and

members of the household of God, that help us genuinely welcome new members, and transforms

fellowshipping from a checklist activity based in duty, to a genuine expression of love and

inclusion, which we all have the opportunity and responsibility as members of the family of

God to extend to one another.  

Everyone needs this experience of love and inclusion, whether we are newly minted new

members, or have been a part of the community of Saints all our lives.  

It is this genuine love that goes beyond Sunday friendliness, and transforms home and

visiting teaching from a duty we perform every month, into genuine and reciprocal

friendship and service.  

It is genuine love that motivates us to call the sister or youth who we haven’t seen in a

few weeks, and see how they are in their lives, in their school, in their work, in their

family.  It is genuine love and real relationship that creates the environment for sharing

when needs arise.  

It is genuine love and being attuned to the Spirit that prompts genuine acts of outreach

and service, out of the blue, just because you know and love someone, just like we do

little things for our spouses and our children out of love for them.  

It is remembering what we experienced when we were new – new in the church, new in a new

town, new in a new school, or new in a new ward - that helps us feel the love and the

compassion, and then gives us insight into what we might do, to encircle those around us in

the arms of our love – to draw them in – into the circle of the community of Saints and of

the family of God.

When we are new members ourselves, it is good to remember that we belong and now are part

of the gospel family, just by virtue of becoming a member of the church.  It doesn’t matter

what your heritage is, whether you are a brand-new member, or your family traces back to

the earliest members in the church.  It doesn’t matter where you come from, what your life

experiences have been, your gender, your ethnicity or cultural background.   It doesn’t

matter what your profession is or your family’s socio-economic status.
 
When you became a member of the church, you became part of the heavenly “in-group” – a

member of the club, the community of Saints and of the family of God.  

So claim your space, and jump in and participate!  Your background and life experiences are

perfect for you, and uniquely prepare and endow you to make the contributions of love and

service that only you can make.   


Conclusion

As I have been meeting new people in the community, I have felt so touched by the warmth

and kindness that has been extended to us.  It has been very heart-warming, and helped me

feel at home quickly, in a new home town, a new state and a new ward, far away from our

children and grandchildren, and the familiar environment we are from.

One woman I met through a professional networking organization said to me with real warmth,

genuine feeling and conviction, “Welcome!  We are so glad you are here.  We have been

waiting for you. You are just what we need.”  

I say that now to everyone one of you:  “Welcome.  We are so glad you are here.  You are

just what we need.”  

In the sacred, and holy name of our Savior Jesus Christ, amen.     


______________________

  Ephesians 2:  19
  Ephesians 2:  11 - 19
  Galatians 3:  26-28.
  2 Nephi 26:  33
  1 Cor. 12:  12-13, 25.
  Gordon B. Hinckley,  Ensign,       Converts and Young Men
  Ensign May 1999, Ned B. Roueche`  Fellowshipping