How to Become a Member
Participation in the Life of the Church
Anyone and everyone is invited to participate in the life, ministry, and worship of our congregation to the extent he or she wishes. There is no requirement for participation except the desire to participate. If you participate in the life of our church in anyway, you are, in a sense, a "member," at least unofficially.
However, official church membership broadens the opportunities for church participation. Church members are eligible to vote in congregational meetings, to serve on church committees, to be elected to church office, and to serve the extended church.
Church Membership
The only requirements for church membership are:
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Accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and the desire to follow him as Lord, or ruler, of your life.
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Baptism.
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Willingness to participate in the life of the church and to follow church teachings, discipline, and governance.
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Petitioning, or asking, the session (board of elders) for membership.
Once you have asked the session for membership, the session will arrange for you to meet with them. This is simply a time for us to get better acquainted and to “formalize” the covenant between you and the church. You will be asked to tell about your “faith journey.” You will want to tell the session about your experience with Christ, how you came to accept him as your Savior, and about your journey to follow him as Lord. The pastor will ask you four questions:
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Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day?
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Have you received Jesus as your Savior, and do you desire to follow him as your Lord?
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Will you serve the Church of Jesus Christ with love, intelligence, gifts, and dedication?
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Have you been baptized?
When you have answered yes to all four, the session will happily vote to receive you into full membership of the congregation. If your answer to the first three questions is yes, but you have not already been baptized, the session will vote to receive you into membership pending baptism. They will then arrange for you to be baptized during our worship service. Once you have been baptized, you will then be a full member of the congregation.
Following acceptance into membership by the session, you will be presented to the congregation in a “Covenanting” ceremony during worship. This is simply a time for the congregation to promise to support you and for you to promise to support the congregation.
If you would like to talk with someone about church membership, or if you would like to ask the session for membership, please contact the church and ask to speak with our pastor.
You can reach the pastor by email by clicking the following link:
Click-here-to-contact-the-pastor
Receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord
Receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord by placing your faith in Him is the most important decision you will ever make in your life.
Placing your faith in Jesus Christ involves understanding and believing certain things.
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First, we are all sinners, in that we have all failed to live up to the potential of what God has created us to be. We all fail God, in that we have all at some point bought into the notion that we can best run our own lives. However, we cannot.
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Second, God knows what is best for us and has a plan for us. If we will turn our will and lives over to God, then we can experience all the fullness of life that God intends for us.
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Third, we come to believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day.
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Fourth, we turn our lives and will over to God by inviting Jesus Christ, through the Spirit of God, to come into our hearts, or into the center of our beings. Then we allow the Spirit of Christ to take over control of our thoughts and actions, filling us with God’s power and love.
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Fifth, we publicly profess Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
If you have never invited Jesus into your life and would like to do so, please contact the church and ask to speak with our pastor.
You can reach the pastor by email by clicking the following link:
Click-here-to-contact-the-pastor