Is it Biblical for a Christian to Regularly Attend or Belong to Two or More Church Assemblies in Town?

BQ NO 64 -  IS IT BIBLICAL FOR A CHRISTIAN TO REGULARLY ATTEND OR BELONG TO TWO OR MORE CHURCH ASSEMBLIES IN TOWN? 

By Ezekiel Kimosop

My view is that a believer should belong to one primary local church assembly in their urban location where they work. If the issue however concerns whether one can occasionally visit or attend a service in another church beside their own local urban assembly, my answer is in the affirmative. A believer may visit another church once in while provided that they do so with some measure of accountability.

For instance if for a good reason I happen to be away on travel, I should simply attend a nearby Bible-believing church. Biblically speaking, all believers belong to one universal communion of saints in Christ and for this reason we should identify with one another despite the church tradition differences between the denominations. We should however be agreed on the fundamental truths of God's word. The Bible declares in 1 Corinthians 12:13 "For by one Spirit we [believers] are all baptized into one body.... and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."

One's level of stewardship also matters in our discretions. If as an elder or pastor I choose to worship or minister in another church one particular Sunday, I should notify my pastor or one of the church elders that I won't be available that Sunday. For those engaged in group ministry activities, a notification to your group leaders is essential. This is a good practice that believers should embrace for purposes of stewardship and accountability.

However, if a believer purports to concurrently hold membership in two or more churches in town, I have some strong reservations for this strange practice unless it can be qualified. It is simply impracticable for a believer, church minister or elder to belong to two or more urban churches at the same time even where they happen to regularly preach or serve them. One of the churches should be their primary congregation to which they are accountable. 

I have heard some believers argue that the Bible does not expressly forbid a believer from being a member of more than one church. However, we need to appreciate that the local assembly is the basic unit in which believers find expression as a Christian community and we need to observe spiritual discipline and accountability in identifying with one another in the Lord.

Scripture may not contain any express prohibitions or rules on multiple church membership but it is nonetheless implied in the Bible that believers should belong to a specific local church assembly where they are instructed, edified and admonished in Christ and can effectively serve God while being accountable to their Christian community of context. 

This was the practice in the New Testament church where believers belonged to cells that met in homes of mature believers or elders. In a number of his letters, Paul often passed his greetings to believers who gathered in homes (cf.  Romans 16:15; 1 Corinthians; 1:11 Philippians 4:22; 2 Timothy 4:19).

Notice further that the immoral believer mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5 was identified with a particular Corinthian assembly to which Paul addressed his Letter. Paul instructed the leaders that when they are assembled together, they should excommunicate the immoral man from their midst (1 Cor. 5:4). The reference to the gathering together of believers is evidence of a local Christian assembly context. 

Notice also the reference to the Christian community gathering in Acts 12:2-16. Peter had been arrested and locked up by the Roman authorities for preaching Christ and the Jerusalem believers gathered behind locked doors at the home of John Mark to intercede for him. This destination was possibly one of the homes where the church often met.

Why should we identify with a specific local church assembly?

In addressing this question, I am aware that many urban believers also belong to rural churches which they occasionally visit. If I attend my rural church no more than once a month, then my urban church is my principal assembly. My urban church pastor and his ministry team are therefore foremost responsible for my spiritual wellbeing.

First, it is instructive that the basis of communion under a local church assembly context is implied in 1 Corinthians 11:33-34 where believers are commanded to wait for one another before celebrating the Lord's Table. These Corinthian believers were members of a distinct church assembly who knew one another and who identified with one another in fellowship and Christian service. 

Secondly, it is practically difficult for a believer to effectively serve or participate in the activities of two or more urban churches at the same time without preferring one to the other. They are also likely to experiencing fatigue or burn out. For instance, one cannot sign up for choir in the two city churches and attend weekly practices and sing in both churches on Sunday!

There are many "nomadic" believers today especially in urban churches who regularly move from one church to another because they consider each of the churches as having a special spiritual blend for their wellbeing that is missing in another. I once heard a young believer say that he regularly attends two city churches because one of the churches has a vibrant worship experience but their ministers do not teach as well as those in the other church. He therefore leaves the first church immediately after the worship session and proceeds to the second church for the sermon. This is a regrettable scenario that should be avoided! 

My view is that if we focus on one Christian assembly, we are better placed to bring our ideas on board on how best we can improve the worship, teaching, and fellowship experience in the congregation. We should regularly provide valuable feedback to our elders and ministers on the quality of church services instead of crisscrossing between two churches in an attempt to bridge the gap.

The third problem that I have identified with some "nomadic" believers is the confusion that comes with mixing several doctrines and traditions borrowed from various Christian communities, some of which are inconsistent with Scripture. The nomadic believer may eventually be unsettled by the different standpoints that each ministry holds on the interpretation of biblical doctrines and church practices.

I know of one brother who crisscrossed four different Evangelical and Pentecostal churches in Nairobi for a period of about two decades before settling in a conservative Evangelical church. The man subscribes to a set of strange doctrines because one of the churches he attended was ultra charismatic and neo-cultic sect. The brother has considerable difficulty reconciling the sets of conflicting doctrines that he embraced in the churches.    

There are also believers who run away to other churches while under church discipline imposed on them by their previous church on legitimate grounds. This is an unbiblical way of responding to conflicts and may be evidence of spiritual immaturity. A believer should submit to legitimate church organs including a discipline tribunal in the fear of the Lord. 

If for legitimate reasons a believer is aggrieved by the manner in which a conflict was handled and has exhausted the appeal mechanisms with a clear conscience, and is compelled by circumstances to move to another church, they should declare their status to the minister of the new church so that they can be counseled and offered spiritual support in resolving the conflict with his previous church. Matthew 18:15-20 provides an elaborate illustration and insights on conflict resolution among believers. 

If for example one was excluded from partaking in Holy Communion in the previous church because of unresolved moral issues, then the restrictions imposed by his previous church should continue to apply until the matter is resolved. He should therefore refrain from partaking in Holy Communion in the new congregation until the conflict is resolved. Jesus' exhortation in Matthew 5:23-24 is instructive on conflict resolution and holding a clear conscience before God. 

In roaming between two or more churches, the "nomadic" believer misses out on the consistent instruction and edification in the word of God and may lose out on effective spiritual cover where it matters. This is the reason that most "church nomads" are spiritually weak. They do not receive effective regular instruction in the way of Christ and may fall into the hands of false teachers. 

However, I do recognize that there are believers who, for no fault of their own, find themselves traveling in their official duties or business engagements between towns and regions, and accordingly identify with two or three church assemblies. Even under these unusual circumstances there ought to be a primary assembly to which the believer is ultimately accountable.

Let me give my example here. I minister in a Nairobi church as an associate pastor. This church has also been my family church for nearly two decades now. I also have a separate church ministry in my upcountry home area where I visit at least once a month. I oversee this ministry and keep constant touch with the leaders on regular issues while in the city. This situation places me in the hands of two ministers - my senior pastor in my Nairobi church to whom I am directly responsible both as a minister and as a believer on the one part, and my Bishop in Eldoret to whom I am answerable as a minister. The Nairobi church is however my primary assembly where I worship and minister with my family. 

The unique circumstances of my ministry work have tied me between the two churches for now. This is however a rare situation and few believers can perhaps identify with this scenario.

My concluding view is therefore that every believer should identify with and belong to a specific local church assembly where they are edified and consistently taught and equipped in the Lord for service (Ephesians 4:11-14). By belonging to a local assembly, we are in no way discounting or placing into question the universality of the communion of all believers worldwide. We are simply emphasizing on what we can discern from the text of Scripture. Our regular and consistent participation in a local church assembly facilities opportunities for consistent fellowship engagement and growth in our knowledge of Christ. It also opens up platforms for effective service and accountability in the body of Christ. Christian nomadism should be checked. 

Yes, we all belong together in Christ notwithstanding the differences in our Christian traditions, provided of course that we are agreed on the fundamental and inalienable truths of Scripture. There is perhaps no legitimate reason why churches within a given locality cannot host joint conferences, missions, and other common church events so that they strengthen one another and reach out to the lost in their regions of context. They should establish a local pastors' fellowship that provides an effective platform for our inter-communion or ecumenical engagement among themselves.

Churches should not consider themselves as competing organizations or entities in a given locality in the way that business organizations do! It is for instance unbiblical to set up a church ministry with the objective of snatching believers from another existing local assembly or to frustrate a new church ministry for fear of "stealing" the sheep. 

I must however unreservedly rule out any communion at whatever level between a Bible-centered church and a cultic or apostate Christian sect. We have strictly no communion whatsoever with any religious sect whose view of Christ and His finished works of the cross is manifestly wanting and whose doctrines and practices are inconsistent with the revelation and authority of Scripture. It does not matter how large or popular or influential such a denomination or sect is in the society.

We have previously discussed the key signs or marks of cultic and neo-cultic Christian sects under this forum.

Shalom

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2016

[This article was originally posted on the L & D WhatsApp forum on 22 July 2016. It was sparingly revised on 30 September 2025]