What It Means To Be A Member

Rick Warren wrote, “The Christian life involves more than believing; it also involves belonging” (The Purpose Driven Life). Becoming a member is a serious faith step and yet is really very simple: it means to commit yourself to God’s family in a particular congregation.

What is a church family?

• A church family is where we are known, loved and belong.

  The body of Christ is to be deeply connected to each other, supporting and encouraging each other on our journey with each other and God.

  “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:4-5).

• A church family identifies us as genuine believers.

  Our love and unity witnesses to the world that we are His body.

  "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)

• A church family helps us to grow in faith.

  God commands His followers to love each other, pray for each other, encourage each other, serve each other, teach each other, bear each other’s burdens, forgive each other, submit to each other, and much more. These are the “family responsibilities” God expects His children to fulfill toward one another.

  “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16).

• A church family is not complete without you.

  God has a unique role for everyone in His family. The local church is the place God designed for His children to discover, develop and use their gifts.

  “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

• A church family shares in Christ’s mission to the world.

  The church is God’s instrument on earth. Once we discover, develop and use our gifts within the church we must carry His love and the good news of salvation to the world. We are God’s hands, feet, eyes, and heart in the world.

  “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

Sounds good, right? Of course living the commitment won’t always be easy, but it will be worth it. For more on the story of God’s family at MVPC, click here.

Membership Essentials

1. To have made or be ready to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
2. To receive baptism or reaffirm your previous baptism.
3. To complete the MVPC Membership process.

If you decide that God is leading you to commit yourself in membership to God’s family at MVPC, you will be asked to sign the membership covenant when you meet with members of session and to respond to the covenant questions at the Welcome Ceremony when new members are introduced to the congregation. Doing so fulfills Membership Essential #1, that you profess faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Let’s look at the covenant:

MVPC Membership Covenant

Having received Jesus Christ as my Savior
and desiring to follow Him as my Lord,
I now feel led by the Holy Spirit
to unite in membership with God’s family at MVPC.
In so doing I sincerely commit
to know Christ and make Him known
and to fulfill God’s purpose for MVPC:

To faithfully worship God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
corporately and individually;

To connect with God’s family
as I love and care for my brothers and sisters in Christ;

To learn through Bible study and prayer,
submitting to God as He transforms me as His follower;

To serve in Christ’s name
as I pray for MVPC’s mission and ministries,
discover and exercise my gifts and talents,
and provide financially for MVPC’s work;

And to disciple the next generation
as I seek to be both a disciple and a disciple-maker.

By God’s grace and in His strength!

By now these words should sound familiar. The Membership Covenant is a spelling out of MVPC’s purpose statement, realities we mean to live both as a church family and individually as church members. As we are faithful to God in worship, connection, learning, service, and discipling He will grow us as His followers and He will make it possible for us to live out the vision He’s given us as a church: to become a faithful church, nurturing Christian maturity in our adults, developing healthy relationships in our congregation, and discipling children and students in our community.

The covenant questions to which you will respond in worship are short and sweet:

Pastor: In presenting yourself for membership, you announce your faith in Jesus Christ and show that you want to know Him, love Him, study Him and serve Him as His chosen disciple. Who is your Lord and Savior?
Reply: Jesus Christ.

Pastor: Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying His Word and showing His love?
Reply: I will.

Pastor: Will you be a faithful member of this congregation, sharing in its worship and ministry through your prayers and gifts, your study and service, and so fulfill your calling to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?
Reply: I will.

Pastor and members: By God’s grace and in His strength!

As you respond to these questions you say to the congregation, your church family, that you intend to follow Christ with them, that we are now all on this journey of discipleship together!

Membership Essential #2 has to do with baptism. Baptism is one of the two sacraments we believe Jesus Christ gave to the church (the other is the Lord’s Supper) and is the sacrament whereby we identify ourselves with God’s people. If you have been baptized in a Christian church we will joyfully recognize your baptism. If you have not been baptized then one of our pastors will have the joy of baptizing you as part of the Welcome Ceremony during the worship service.

Membership Essential #3 asks that you complete the MVPC membership process. There won’t be a pop quiz. We will take you at your word that you will:

1. Read the online membership information.
2. Attend the membership orientation.
3. Attend the fellowship gathering.
4. Meet with members of session and shared your faith story.
5. Be present for the Welcome Ceremony during a worship service.

As you fill out the Membership Information Forms it will be helpful for you to understand that there are four categories of new members. You can join by:

• Confession of Faith with Baptism if you’ve never been baptized and never joined a church before.
• Confession of Faith if you’ve been baptized but never joined a church before.
• Reaffirmation of Faith if you’ve joined a church in the past but your memberships has lapsed.
• Transfer of Membership if your membership in another church is still active. You also give us contact info about your previous church and we’ll write them for a letter of transfer.

You can print out these forms and begin filling them out at any time, but you’ll need to have them with you when you meet with members of session. If you are married and your spouse is also becoming a member, please print out two copies and fill them out individually.

So that’s it! We do hope that taking the time to read this information on what it means to be a Christian, a Presbyterian, a member and how to grow as a Christian has been helpful, encouraging, challenging, and perhaps inspirational. We pray that already you have grown as God has spoken to you during this time set apart for Him. We look forward to getting to know you better and seeing what God has in store for all of us as you commit yourself in membership to God’s family at MVPC!