'Belonging Together'

What is Church Membership?

Some people say that there is no such thing as church membership in the Bible! Superficially that may be true. But at another level it is obvious that each church knew those who belonged to that fellowship, and they could monitor the numerical growth of the church. It is not difficult to image that someone, somewhere, had a list of those who were part of the local fellowship and there you have the real essence of church membership. Church Membership is about belonging to a local Christian community and being involved in its life, work and witness. These things are common themes in the letters of the New Testament.

What is expected of a member?

There are two main things:

• First of all, a member needs to be someone with a personal Christian faith, which may have come through specific experience or as part of a gradual process.

• Secondly, a member is someone who is committed to the local church and who is involved in its life, its work and its worship. A member is someone who recognises that a particular fellowship is their spiritual home, where they in faith belong.
  
   

How does this work out in practice?

1. We hope that a member will normally be able to be present at least once on a Sunday for worship, unless of course, the member is working, or this is made impossible due to some other commitment. Being present at Communion is a particular joy and privilege and members should see this as a priority.
    

2. A member is someone who is committed to support the local church. This means a loyalty and faithfulness towards it, which can be expressed in many different ways. There are a whole variety of opportunities for service and involvement in the life of the church, and even just attending and participating can be a real encouragement to others.
    

3. In Baptist Churches a member has a responsibility to share in the decisions that have to be made about the life and work of the church. These responsibilities are fulfilled through our bi-monthly Members' Meetings to which all members are encouraged to come. At such meetings a lot of the time is spent in listenng to each other and learning about different aspects of the life of the church. But decisions have to be made, people have to be appointed to jobs and this is not done by a small hierarchy but with the involvement of the whole fellowship.
    

4. A Baptist Church like ours has no money coming into it, apart from what is given by those who belong to the church. Members are asked to look carefully at their giving and to support their church loyally and generously.
    

5. A church member is a follower of Jesus Christ and is therefore committed to living a life that is in harmony with that. So it is expected that each member is seeking to live their life in obedience to the way of Jesus as expressed in the Bible.
    

6. A church member should be in good fellowship with the other members of the church. A member will also support the church, its people and its leaders through their prayers, both individually and, when possible, together with others.
    

7. A church member will share in the mission of the church by always being ready to welcome others and by being willing to make visitors feel at home. Members are responsible for making our church warm, friendly and welcoming.
    

8. As a Christian a church member will want to keep their faith alive and growing, and reading God's Word, the Bible will play an important part in that.
    

9. A church member is not just concerned about church, but also about the world. A church member will seek to be a witness to their faith by the life that is lived and by words that are spoken.
    

10. A church member makes the confession that Jesus Christ is their personal Lord and Saviour. He is the one who has given us faith; he is the one who bought the church into being and in the end all we seek to be and to do is for His glory.

Of course, none of us is perfect - and we all fail at some points. But these are some of the ways in which we fulfil our responsibility to do the best we can for our local church.

Click on the buttons to the left for more details about the Nurture Zone

Click the buttons below for other zones