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Membership of Stonnington Baptist Church
Everyone is welcome to be part of the life of our church. However, we also encourage people to consider becoming formal members of our church. This is an indication of your commitment to this local church and gives you the right to vote at church meetings.
Membership Process
WHY?
Becoming a member of Stonnington Baptist Church is an important step of commitment to our community. Followers of Jesus are all part of His universal church. However that needs to be lived out in a specific community. Becoming a member says that you are going to:
- be involved, not just a spectator
- be a contributor, not a consumer
- take responsibility, not just seek your own benefits.*
Writing in “The Purpose Driven Life”, Rick Warren says that:
“Identifying with the church:
- identifies you as a genuine believer
- brings belonging
- moves you out of self-centred isolation
- helps you to develop spiritual muscle
- enables you to share in Christ’s mission in the world
- helps you to stay on track as a Christian believer”
(* Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life)
HOW?
Membership is a process of getting to know each other and to make some commitments.
There are two tracks:
- You have just become a follower of Jesus. In this case we will cover important information and topics in our baptism and discipleship process at the end of which you will have the opportunity to become a member of Stonnington Baptist Church. If you are interested in joining this track please email us.
- You are already a follower of Jesus who is transferring from another church. In this case we want to recognise and value what you already know and live out. The process is outlined below.
There are three stages in the process.
Stage One:
To discover what both you and we understand about God, discipleship, church life and what membership means at Stonnington Baptist.
This has two parts:
- An opportunity for you to read about the history, beliefs, values, vision and structure of Stonnington Baptist Church by accessing material on this website or hard copies at the church.
- A Questionnaire for you to fill out that covers your understanding of the bible, God, church, discipleship etc. This will include a place for you to write down questions you have about us.
- The reason we do this is because many of you will have had much teaching and gone to many courses, even membership courses and we don't want you to have to sit and listen to what you already know.
- We think asking you to express your understanding in your own words is a powerful exercise. It will:
- help you clarify your own understanding
- improve your ability to explain your Christianity to others
- help you to be able to take someone else through the discipleship and membership processes here at Stonnington - that is what we want all of us to be able to do.
Stage Two:
To meet with an existing member of the church to discuss and clarify any gaps or differences in understanding, and to answer your questions that were identified in stage one.
Stage Three:
To make a decision to become a member and for that to be publicly recognized. |
David Wanstall, 09/02/2009
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