[dragonwriter]

> Membership in a social club can't do that.

As someone who has been involved in both Churches, Church-associated social clubs, and no -Church social clubs, yes, it absolutely can; in fact, what you describe is explicitly part of the concept of many non-Church social clubs, some of which evolved from (or in the tradition of) organizations which started as sub-church organizations within churches by which this function was more tightly expressed for members than in the broader church.

But even where it isn't explicitly part of the deal, it's very common to evolve as an implicit part of a social club.