Excommunication – Form 2

First Announcement

Brothers and sisters, since we are responsible for one another as fellow members of the body of Jesus Christ, we are deeply concerned when a member of the body wanders from the Christian way and does not repent. Therefore, it is our painful duty as office-bearers of this church to inform you that one of our fellow members has sinned and given offense against God and his church and remains unrepentant to this day, despite our prayers and admonitions.

Through his/her unrepentance, our brother/sister is breaking the covenant bond with the Lord and His people. Thus, we have suspended his/her participation in the sacraments, the signs and seals of this relationship with our Savior and with one another. We also have suspended the other privileges of communicant membership.

At his/her profession of faith, he/she promised to honor and submit to the authority of the church. Let us all pray that our brother/sister may respond positively to the admonitions of the church and return to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in grace and faithfulness desires this brother’s/sister’s repentance.

Second Announcement

(Note: Before using the second announcement, the advice of classis shall be sought.)
Brothers and sisters, since we are responsible for one another as fellow members of the body of Jesus Christ, we are deeply concerned when a member of the body wanders from the Christian way and does not repent. Therefore, the office-bearers of this church previously requested your prayers for a fellow member who has remained unrepentant of the sin which gave offense against God and His church.

With a heavy heart, we report that the suspension of __________ and all our admonitions and prayers since that time have not produced in our brother/sister any evidence of repentance or a desire to be restored to fellowship with the Lord and His people. We inform you, therefore, with the advice of classis, that if our brother/sister does not repent, it may be necessary to move toward the extreme step of excommunicating him/her from membership in the church of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord does not wish that sinners should perish, but desires that they turn from their evil ways and live. Therefore, let us all continue to pray for our brother/sister and to plead personally with him/her to mend his/her ways and return to the Lord and His people in repentance and faith.

Third Announcement

Brothers and sisters, since we are responsible for one another as fellow members of the body of Jesus Christ, we are deeply concerned when a member of the body wanders from the Christian way and does not repent. On previous occasions, the office-bearers of this church requested you to pray for and plead with a fellow member, __________, who remains unrepentant of the sin which gave offense to God and His church. With sadness of heart, we report that our loving admonitions and prayers still have not led him/her to demonstrate any sign of repentance and faith.
Because he/she continues to reject the admonition and discipline of the church and has broken covenant with the Lord and His people, we find it necessary to proceed to excommunicate this brother/sister from membership in the church of the Lord. If he/she does not show evidence of repentance by _________ (date), to our deep sorrow we will move to excommunicate him/her from membership. If any member of the church knows of any valid reason why this should not be done, we urge that person to inform the consistory.

Let us all continue to pray for __________ and plead with him/her, so that he/she may not harden his/her heart completely, but may return to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with confession of sin and assurance of faith.

Form for Excommunication from Membership

Brothers and sisters, our hearts grieve for our fellow member, __________, who has not responded to the loving admonition and prayers of this consistory and congregation, and who remains unrepentant to this day of his/her sin and offense against God and His church and does not heed the admonition of this church and its consistory. Accordingly, in obedience to the command of God in his Word and with great sorrow, we must take the extreme step of excommunicating him/her from membership in the church of our Lord.

We do so to uphold the honor of God and to maintain the holiness of God’s church with the prayer that this action will also lead the erring one to repentance. We pray that God may cause him/her to seek forgiveness of sin, renewed union with Christ, and restoration into the family of God, the church.

Prayer for Grace

Heavenly Father, we are humbled before You. We stand before You with fear and trembling, conscious of our own imperfection, yet conscious also of the responsibility You have given your church to discipline its members. Grieving deeply, we plead that this action may build up Your people and cause none to stumble. This we ask in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Declaration

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hereby excommunicate __________ from membership in the church of our Lord, knowing also that God Himself excludes him/her from fellowship in Christ and all His blessings as long as he/she persists in his/her unrepentance.

Exhortation

As we are saddened by this event, let us be warned to fear the Lord and live close to Him and His Word. Let us not harden our hearts, but let us place ourselves under the discipline of our Master, who with a loving and firm hand renews our lives through the ministry of the Word and Spirit and the loving care of His church.

Call to Prayer

Let us all continue to pray that by the grace of the Holy Spirit __________ may yet come to recognize his/her sin, show genuine repentance, and seek restoration to fellowship with the Lord and His people. Let us also pray that the Holy Spirit will use us in our contacts with him/her to that end. Let us now together call on the Lord, confessing our sin and pleading for mercy.

Prayer of Confession

O righteous God and merciful Father, before Your great majesty we confess that we are sinners and acknowledge that we have justly deserved the sorrow and pain caused by the excommunication we witnessed today. Indeed, if You were to judge us, we would all deserve to be excluded and banished from Your presence on account of our great and many transgressions.

O Lord, be gracious to us for Christ’s sake; forgive us our trespasses, for we wholeheartedly repent of them; and work in our hearts a continually increasing measure of sorrow for them, that we, fearing Your judgments and desiring to serve and love You, may endeavor to please You. Grant that we may avoid all the pollution of the world and of those who are excluded from the communion of the church, in order that we may not make ourselves partakers of their sins, and that he/she who is excommunicated may become ashamed of his/her sins.

Since You do not desire the death of the sinner, but that he/she may repent and live, and since Your church is always open for those who return, we ask You to kindle in our hearts a godly zeal, so that we, with good Christian admonitions and example, may seek to bring back this excommunicated person, together with all those who through unbelief and recklessness of life go astray. Add Your blessing to our admonitions, that we thereby may have reason to rejoice again in them for whom we must now mourn, and that Your holy name may be praised, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray:

Congregation:
Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen