A set of core disciplines has been central to membership in the Church of the Saviour since its founding in 1947. We believe that a commitment to a spiritual journey must be accompanied by a commitment to a set of disciplines. "Integrity of membership" is an important concept for us: Without accountability for our disciplines and under pressure from the demands of our daily lives, church members will tend to gravitate toward the lowest common denominator and lose consciousness of the centrality of our spiritual journey.
The disciplines that we have chosen are not better than other disciplines that one might choose. Many faithful follower of Jesus have different disciplines or no defined disciplines. The Eighth Day disciplines are simply those that describe us as a community. We have found that they work for us to bring us closer to God and to our community.
All individuals who are Covenant Members and Community Members, as defined below, are Members of the Eighth Day Faith Community.
Both Community, Covenant, and Intern Members commit to the following:
● Regular attendance at the Eighth Day worship service.
● Attendance at Eighth Day gatherings, events, and celebrations.
● Remaining in an accountability relationship to another Member or to a mission group (or other accountability group).
● Reading the Eighth Day Commitment Statement at an Eighth Day worship service when committing or recommitting to membership and signing the Membership Book (or electronically noting by print or voice that one has read the commitment).
In addition to the above commitments, Covenant and Intern Members also commit to the following:
● Completion of a class on the history of the Church of the Saviour
● Preparation and presentation of their spiritual autobiography sacred story) to the community.
● Participation in a mission group, spiritual support group or other accountability group
● Incorporating all of the Church of the Saviour spiritual disciplines - including daily quiet time of at least 45 minutes, proportional giving of consistent percentage of their income and participation in an annual silent retreat – into their lives
In addition to Community, Covenant, and Intern members, one can also be a Worshiping member. Worshing members are those who have decided not to take on the specific disciplines of the church yet are a real part of the church.
Worshiphing members
More than many communities, we depend on and are enhanced by Worshiping members. We have pioneered mission after mission with the help of people who are not members. Many people have dreamed with us and cared and prayed and given. The worshiping member is a person not called to membership in this particular community with its particular understandings and structures. If one is not inwardly called and does not welcome our particular understandings and our structures, their growth is enhanced by non-membership rather than by membership.
Membership has nothing to do with being better or being more committed. It has everything to do with a special call to a particular community structured in a very unusual way and operating on assumptions often quite different from the normal assumptions of church life in America. Thus, in this kind of community there will be much coming and going. Coming and going will be normative. “Let me explore this,” many will say. “Is it right for my spirit? No, this is not where I am now.” The hope is that each of us, and the whole community, will be richer because of these explorations.
The above description of Worshiping members is modified from Gordon Cosby's description in 2009 of "non-members" which at 8th Day we instead call "Worshiping members."