Critique of New Member Class at Brewster Baptist Church

The Dean took over the class for last Sunday, and was
excellent in every respect. She did not use the book. She
drew us into an understanding of "Discipleship" and
"Grace" by asking questions, giving illustrations, and
leading us to draw conclusions. Well done!

It is possible now, after six weeks, to see the flaws in
what is being attempted in this course, and to propose
some solutions. Much of the written material is thought
provoking and could be used elsewhere. The principal
defect of the "New Member Class" is that there is no
clear course objective. We could infer from the outline
that it is supposed to be both orientation and indoctrination.

Sessions devoted to each are mixed in sequence. Some
require considerable study and response to difficult
questions. There is far from sufficient time to discuss
them in hour long meetings for each topic. So they
were omitted thus far in the course. A worse fault
is that three documents were demanded from the
participants after the third meeting, which properly
should be at the conclusion of the course. They are
the personal profile, the membership questionnaire,
and the covenant of membership.

At the end, for two sessions, a long psychological
profile is to be formulated on a do-it-yourself basis.
I would object strenuously to using it. Such
instruments are dangerous unless administered by a
trained psychologist. Too much introspection may
lead to clinical depression. The sessions on
stewardship and small groups are clearly orientation,
as were three of the first four meetings.

My recommendation would be that the course should
be entirely orientation, about eight weeks in length,
and feature a variety of speakers. The Senior Pastor's
talk with us "newbies" was an excellent introduction.
The new member course can easily segue from that.