When a Christian supports the church, it includes participating in its ministry with time, talents, and skills. A tithe, or even a tithe plus, placed in the plate, bag, or box does not exhaust the meaning of “support.” As the Apostle Paul has said, the church is a body with each member fulfilling a necessary part of its life. So, when one professes faith in Christ or is received by transfer from another church and vows are administered, it is important to realize that supporting the church means being a disciple not only with dollars and cents, but also with time and talents. Vow four is a call to be involved in the work of the church because not only money, but also many hands, make light work of a congregation’s ministry.

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) requires those professing faith in Christ to affirm five vows indicative of their covenant with God and his Church (Book of Church Order 57:5). The vows acknowledge an individual’s sinfulness and need for God’s mercy, trust in the Son of God as savior from sin, purpose to live submitted to the Holy Spirit in obedience, concern to support the work of the church, and willingness to submit to the government of the Church. It may be thought that these vows date from the earliest days of Presbyterianism, but this is not the case. The article that follows provides a history of the development and use of vows in the branch of American Presbyterianism from which the PCA was established and it considers the context and influences creating an environment conducive to their adoption and use.
As Presbyterians increased in number in America and congregations were organized it became necessary to establish in 1706 the first presbytery which was named “The Presbytery.” The Presbytery provided a hub of connection for the many scattered churches so presbyters could deliberate common issues and provide collective leadership for their congregations. Continued growth and additional presbyteries led to formation in 1717 of “The Synod.” Twelve years later, The Synod subscribed to the Westminster Confession of Faith and its associated catechisms, however Westminster’s Directory for the Public Worship of God was not subscribed to, but it was instead recommended for use; it was “unanimously” judged “to be agreeable in substance to the Word of God” and “to all their members, to be by them observed as near as circumstances will allow, and Christian prudence direct” (Klett, 195). Westminster’s Directory did not include vows of membership.
Fast forwarding six decades, American Presbyterians experienced sufficient growth to convene in 1789 the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA). That same year the first edition of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church was published containing the Westminster Confession and catechisms, Form of the Government and Discipline, Forms of Process, and Directory for the Worship of God. The Directory published by the PCUSA is different from the directory composed by the Westminster Assembly, but the influence of Westminster can be seen in the organization, topics, and some portions of the text. The PCUSA Directory is more concise than Westminster’s, it includes paragraph enumeration, and it added a chapter on the singing of Psalms along with other changes. The following is the entire text of the 1789 chapter titled, “Of the Admission of Persons to Sealing-Ordinances,” which for twenty-first century readers means admission into communicant or church membership.
Sect. I. CHILDREN, born within the pale of the visible Church, and dedicated to God in baptism, are under the inspection and government of the Church; and are to be taught to read, and repeat the Catechism, the Apostles Creed, and the Lord’s prayer. They are to be taught to pray, to abhor sin, to fear God, and to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. And, when they come to years of discretion, if they be free from scandal, appear sober and steady, and to have sufficient knowledge to discern the Lord’s body, they ought to be informed, it is their duty, and their privilege, to come to the Lord’s Supper.
Sect. II. The years of discretion, in young Christians, cannot be precisely fixed. This must be left to the prudence of the Eldership. The officers of the church are the Judges of the qualifications of those to be admitted to sealing ordinances; and of the time when it is proper to admit young Christians to them.
Sect. III. Those, who are to be admitted to sealing ordinances, shall be examined, as to their knowledge and piety.
Sect. IV. When unbaptized persons apply for admission into the church, they shall, in ordinary cases, after giving satisfaction with respect to their knowledge and piety, make a public profession of their faith, in the presence of the congregation; and thereupon be baptized.
There is a distinction between admitting covenant children into communicant membership and admitting “unbaptized persons.” Presbyterians emphasized the responsibility of children to come to terms with their covenant baptism and grow in knowledge of the Lord sufficiently, as Section I expressed it quoting Scripture, “to discern the Lord’s body” (1 Cor. 11:29). The terminology used is that of the covenant child’s duty and responsibility to partake of the Lord’s body and blood in faith. That is to say, is the baptized child going to continue in the covenant, or is he or she going to become a covenant breaker. The “Eldership” determined the admissibility of the baptized to the Lord’s Supper, apparently without them coming before the congregation, but the unbaptized were to make their profession of faith before the congregation and then be baptized. No vows for becoming a communicant member of the church are included in the Directory for Worship in 1789.
Nearly fifty years later, 1837, there was a major division of Presbyterians resulting in two Presbyterian Churches that were known popularly as the Old and New Schools. The Old School-New School division is important for the founding of the PCA because at the time of the division, the Presbyterians in the South were predominately Old School. An edition of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church published just before the division, 1834, provided instruction concerning church membership but like the 1789 edition, it did not have membership vows.
In 1861, there was another division of Presbyterians as a result of the Civil War. The Old School churches in the Union through the Gardiner Spring Resolutions required allegiance of the PCUSA churches to the Union and their continued work to preserve the Union. This, the churches in the Confederacy could not do, so the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America (PCCSA) was formed. About half-way through the war, the PCCSA united with the southern New School Presbyterians to become one general assembly. Shortly thereafter a committee was appointed to revise the Old School Directory for Worship. The war ended in 1865 with the committee having not reported regarding the progress of their work. The PCCSA changed its name to the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS). Attempts to revise the Directory continued sporadically until 1879 when a new committee was appointed for the work. Despite good intentions, it took fourteen years to complete and adopt the finished Directory. The next year, 1894, the first edition of the Directory with membership vows was published, but it included only four of the five vows that would come to be used by the PCA.
The vow missing is the one regarding support of the church’s ministry and work, which reads, “Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?” It was added to the PCUS Directory during an extensive revision of the Book of Church Order that was published in the edition of 1929, however, it was not added as the last vow but rather the fourth resulting in the relocation of the previous fourth to the fifth position. After thirty-five years, since the 1894 edition, the PCUS found it necessary to include a vow regarding church members supporting the ministry of the church, which raises the question, what prompted the revision?
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God’s Holy Scriptures provide us all kinds of assurance of His love, not least in His articulation of our doubts. God cares about our faith struggles and included words of doubt for us to connect with so that we would see that He sees and understands us. Don’t let doubt drive you away from God, but rather allow His own expression of your doubt to draw you closer to Him.

Insecurity in our relationship with God is a fairly common experience. While many of us can be reassured of God’s love fairly easily, for some individuals, anxiety over their salvation can be so intense that no amount of reassurance can provide comfort. In such cases, our greatest hope is to turn to the God of comfort who anticipated that we would have these doubts about Him. God describes our doubt in His Word in order to draw us closer to Him.
There are a number of different reasons why someone may struggle with the assurance of God’s love, but consider these three common reasons. First, consider contextual influences. While our context does not cause us to do anything, it does influence us. It impacts us in significant ways. Things like childhood experiences and parents can have a profound impact on our sense of God. Perhaps you experienced God through an abusive parent, or abusive pastor, youth leader, or Sunday school teacher. All childhood trauma impacts us deeply, but trauma that associates God with our abusers makes it particularly difficult to see God as loving.
Second, consider personal influences. Our own personality can also play a part in cultivating doubt. Some of us are wired in such a way that faith is particularly difficult. Take, for example, someone who struggles with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Some individuals who struggle with OCD may feel that they have sinned even when they can’t identify anything specific. Others may constantly struggle with a need to perform some routine to merit favor or earn God’s love. But even apart from mental illnesses, our own dispositions can add layers of complexity to our relating to God. Hyper-sensitivity can make us exceedingly aware of our unworthiness. General insecurity can make us fearful and reluctant to approach God. Perfectionism can create a constant frustration with our religious performance.
Third, consider scriptural influences. This factor may seem strange; after all, the Bible speaks plainly about God’s love for us. Yet, the Bible also speaks about God’s judgment against sin and sinners, His displeasure over wickedness, and His perfect moral character. That can be intimidating when we are already struggling. As a result, many who struggle with the assurance of salvation tend to overemphasize, misread, or misapply the various passages that speak of God’s judgment against sin.
It is helpful to know some of the common reasons we may struggle with doubt. Think about your own life and your own struggle with assurance. Do you see any of these elements contributing to your doubt? Identifying what contributes to your struggle allows you to tailor a response to those influences as you fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12). Yet, Scripture offers us greater help.
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We must view this vow of Jephthah as an incredibly sinful response to the Lord’s gracious working in Him and through Him. It tapped into his pride, and it was whilst drunk on success and his own pride and ego – as opposed to being filled with the Spirit – that Jephthah made the rash vow that led to the sacrifice of his daughter; a vow which completely contravened the law of God.

Recently, on a Facebook Christian theology group I am a member of, the following request for help was asked by one the other members. I thought it would be a good idea to turn the answer into a blog post with a bit of extra detail to my original answer as I had found that there was not a great deal of help to be found, either by commentaries or from internet articles. Here is the question:
“In the final section of Judges 11 Jephthah makes a rash vow that he will give whatever comes through his front door up for a burnt offering if he beats the ammonites. low and behold his daughter walks through and so he offers his daughter. So I’m trying to understand it said in a couple verses before he gave the vow that he was in the Spirit of The Lord but God ultimately knew that his daughter would be the one to come through the door.
I know God is good and isn’t the author of sin obviously so I’m just trying to understand this passage in light of this truth and need some help.”
This really is such a good question, due in part to the fact that I was unable to find the explanation that touched upon all the subject’s related aspects in one place! Here is my own humble attempt to do so:
In Judges 11, we find Jephthah, who was an Israelite from the region of Gilead. He had been exiled from his home by his own brothers for being an illegitimate child, the son of a prostitute. Presumably, Jephthah was deemed to be a source of familial shame by his pure-blooded siblings, who decided one day to drive him out of their midst.
During Jephthah’s time in exile, he became renowned as a skilled and courageous leader, leading a group of fellow outlaws who had joined together with him as a means of survival. The people of Ammon started to wage a war against Israel at some point during this time. As Israel set about assembling its strongest possible army, the elders of Gilead naturally turned to the Gileadean who had now established himself as a skilful and courageous leader, Jephthah, asking him to be a commander in the Israelite army.
Quite understandably, Jephthah was a little nonplussed by this sudden turnaround in treatment that he was receiving from his native people, and so bargained for the leadership of his hometown should he take up this role as commander in the army and successfully help the Israelites to victory. The elders of Gilead, out of desperation, agreed to the request.
(There are a couple of certain points that will prove helpful to note at this point as we consider the controversial vow of Jephthah. Jephthah, as a child, and despite his father’s indiscretion, would have certainly been taught about the Israelite religion, their laws and of Yahweh, their God. Perhaps even during that same time, but certainly after his ejection from Gilead, Jephthah would have also learnt about local pagan religions, some of which would have included human sacrifices.)
Jephthah became a key commander in the Israelite army and helped them bargain for an end to the conflict with the king of Ammon, albeit unsuccessfully. It is at this point we come to the part of the story that is of the most interest regarding our question:
v.29 “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon.
v.30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, ‘If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands,
v.31 then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.’”
As we can see, in v.29, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. He then undertook a journey that led him right to the battlefront, and at this point Jephthah made what is often described as his rash vow. 
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