I admit that I don’t know the pressures you are facing or how dire things may look for the future of your church without some half-way covenant of church membership. But better to be on God’s side with a small church, than against him in a bigger one. You’re right that many people might “leave our churches if we required them to defend their faith publicly, through a written credo or in-depth interview before the board of elders” but let God deal with that. —Kevin DeYoung.