Decently and In Order
Decently and In Order
  • Home
  • Membership Care System
  • Terms of Service
  • Refund Policy
Membership Care & Restoration System for small churches.

Every church loses people. Few have a plan to respond.

A complete, adoptable system for the small church: care for the members who drift away, and restore the ones who fall. Policy, letters, tracker, and a guide, all ready to edit.

The Problem

It always happens. It's seldom planned for.

Some members move away. Some drift quietly and stop coming. A few fall into serious sin and won't turn from it.

When it happens, most small churches improvise. A well-meant phone call. An awkward silence. A name left on the roll for years because nobody knew what else to do.

The result is people forgotten, leaders exposed, and church discipline given a bad name it doesn't deserve.

This kit fixes that, in a weekend of reading and a season of adoption.

What it is

A system, not just a template

The Membership Care & Restoration System is a complete, ready-to-adapt set of governing documents for two things many churches handle badly: caring for the members who slip away, and lovingly restoring a member in unrepentant sin.

It isn't a bare template. It's the policy and the plain-language biblical reasoning behind it. The letters and the guidance on when to send them. The process and the spreadsheet that tracks it.

Everything a pastor, elder board, or deacon needs to handle these tender moments with both truth and grace.

Why it's different

Built by a pastor, for the small church

Practitioner-built

These documents were written by a pastor and elder who has actually drafted them, walked a congregation through them, and learned where they go wrong. That experience is on every page, including the mistakes to avoid.

Two pathways, kept clear

Caring for a member who can't attend is not the same as correcting one who won't. Pathway A is patient, personal watch-care for the inactive. Pathway B is the Matthew 18 process for serious, unrepentant sin. Different tone, different letters, different outcome, and never one run on the other's tracks.

Grace-first, start to finish

Every pathway aims at restoration, not removal. Removal is only ever what happens when restoration is refused, and the door is left open at every step.

Careful where it counts

Confidentiality, due process, certified-mail delivery, mandatory reporting of abuse to civil authorities, and clear "have your attorney review this" guardrails throughout.

What's Inside

Item 1 — Model Policy

The adoptable governing document, bracketed for any polity, with two clearly separated pathways and every safeguard built in.

Item 2 — The Letter Pack

Nine ready-to-send letters covering every phase: concern, review, both kinds of removal, the Matthew 18 notices, and restoration. Plus transfer and withdrawal letters.

Item 3 — Deadline Calculator & Member Tracker

An Excel workbook. Set your timelines once, and it computes every deadline and flags what's due for each member, automatically.

Item 4 — Implementation Guide

The reasoning behind every choice, the ten common failures to avoid, and how to actually get the policy adopted.

Item 5 — Congregational FAQ

A plain-language handout that reassures your members about what the policy is, and what it isn't.

Item 6 — Adoption Checklist

A one-page path from purchase to a policy that's adopted and working.

Item 7 — Start Here

File map, one-pass customization instructions, and your license.

Built to fit your convictions

Where faithful churches differ, you choose

There's one question biblically faithful churches answer differently: what do you do when a member you've pursued simply won't return?

The kit gives you a clear fork. Quiet administrative removal, or formal covenant discipline. You pick the one that matches your polity. Both are argued fairly and fully documented, so whichever you choose, you have the letters and the language for it.

The whole system is bracketed for congregational and elder-led churches alike. You're adapting a document, not adopting someone else's convictions.

Who It's For

Pastors, elders, and deacons of churches under about 250 members. Congregational and elder-led alike, and a particularly close fit for Baptist, Bible, and non-denominational churches.

Also a fit for church planters and small faith-based nonprofits building governance from scratch.

It assumes your church practices meaningful membership. If you're not there yet, the guide points you to a good starting place.

What it's Not

This kit is provided as an educational resource, not legal advice. Church membership and discipline law varies by state and depends on your specific facts and your own governing documents.

Have your final policy reviewed by an attorney licensed in your state, and always follow your own bylaws.

FOUNDING PRICE: $59

$79 after September 1, 2026.

If a lawyer drafted this for you, it would cost thousands. Left undone, it costs you the next hard case. This is the middle path: sound, adoptable, and priced for a small church.

Instant download. Editable Word and Excel files. Perpetual single-church license.

Questions

Please reach us at adam.claxton@me.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.

Done badly, yes, and that's why most churches avoid it. Done the way Scripture describes it, it's the opposite. Every step in this system aims at restoring the person, and removal only ever happens when restoration has been refused. The Congregational FAQ included in the kit is written specifically to explain that to your members.

Yes, and the kit says so on nearly every file. This is an educational resource that gets you 90 percent of the way there with sound structure and careful language. Your attorney reviews the last 10 percent for your state and your bylaws. That's a much smaller bill than starting from a blank page.

Almost certainly. The Model Policy is bracketed throughout so you can drop in your own terms, offices, and timelines. It's written for both congregational and elder-led churches, and the one place they genuinely diverge is handled as an explicit fork rather than a hidden assumption.

Almost certainly. The Model Policy is bracketed throughout so you can drop in your own terms, offices, and timelines. It's written for both congregational and elder-led churches, and the one place they genuinely diverge is handled as an explicit fork rather than a hidden assumption.

A weekend to read and customize. A season to adopt properly, because you'll want your leadership to discuss it and your congregation to understand it before you vote. The Adoption Checklist lays out that path in one page.

Microsoft Word (.docx) and Excel (.xlsx). Fully editable. They open in Word, Excel, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Pages, Numbers, and LibreOffice.

That's the point. Edit, rename, rewrite, and reprint as much as you need for your own congregation. Your license covers all of it.

No. The license covers one congregation. If you need to cover an association, network, or denominational office, email us and we'll sort out terms.

No. The license covers one congregation. If you need to cover an association, network, or denominational office, email us and we'll sort out terms.

Email help@decentandordered.com and tell us. Because these are instant downloads, all sales are final, but we'd rather have a satisfied customer than $79, and we've never refused a reasonable request.

Who Made This?

Decently and In Order is a project of Well Ordered Resources LLC. We publish practical, ready-to-adopt governance resources for small churches and faith-based nonprofits.

Everything we publish has been used before it's sold. This system was drafted for a real congregation, argued through a real elder board, and revised where it turned out to be wrong.

Copyright © 2026 Decently and In Order - All Rights Reserved.

  • Terms of Service
  • Refund Policy

Powered by

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.

Accept