ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on membership as one way in which people voluntarily engage with society. It discusses the ways in which membership organizations in general are changing and looks at a theory of civil society that can be applied to them, including implications for local churches. The chapter seeks to contribute to the debate on Church decline by drawing on the wider debate about civil society. It explores the pressures on the institution of church membership and suggests possible future scenarios. It also focuses on the evidence for decline in church membership and the explanations that have been offered. The chapter describes Evers' model of civil society and develop its implications for membership as a social phenomenon. Different denominations use different definitions of membership and attendance and different methods of collecting data from local churches.
