What are the advantages of having a “care list” for cases of corrective discipline?
- A care list cuts out the shock value of corrective discipline. Presenting a person’s name to the congregation months before a possible act of discipline enables the church to better pray and reach out to that person. It also prepares themselves for the sobering and sad act of excluding the individual from the Lord’s Supper.
- A care list protects the church’s leaders from unwarranted charges from church members. Giving someone’s name to the congregation well in advance of any formal act of discipline allows the congregation to raise any questions they may have. Then, when it’s time to act, the congregation will be more likely to view the decision as their own, not something foisted on them by their leaders.
- Best of all, a care list involves the entire church in praying for and pleading with the sinning member. This will hopefully result in a more mature, unified congregation and in more erring members restored to the church’s fellowship.
(This material has been partly drawn from Matt Schmucker’s article “Cleaning the Membership Rolls (Part 2) – The Care List”)
