MEMBERSHIP

We believe that church membership is important.

Maretburg Baptist Church is a covenant family of those who know the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, have been scripturally baptized by immersion and admitted into the fellowship of the church, are in agreement with our established Articles of Faith, and believe that God is leading you to become a member of MBC you need to do the following:

1. Share your interest of church membership with Pastor Peyton.

2. Pastor Peyton will want to meet with you over lunch, dinner, during the Sunday School hour, or any other mutually convenient time and place to get to know you, to learn the story of how Jesus saved you, to walk through MBC's established articles of faith with you, to hand you your own physical copy of our church constitution & bylaws, and to give you the opportunity to ask the pastor any questions you may have.

3. You will be presented for membership before the church body.

How do we receive new members? We receive members through any of the following ways:

1. By transfer of church letter from another Baptist Church.

2. By statement of faith of prior experience of conversion and scriptural baptism by immersion in another church of like faith and practice.

3. By scriptural baptism by immersion after profession of faith in Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior and by vote of approval by church members.

Church Membership Commitments (Following a Midweek Study of Thom Rainer’s I Am a Church Member):

I am a church member.

I like the metaphor of membership. It’s not membership as in a civic organization or a country club. It’s the kind of membership given to us in 1 Corinthians 12: “Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it” (1 Cor. 12:27). Because I am a member of the body of Christ, I must be a functioning member, whether I am an “eye,” an “ear,” or a “hand.” As a functioning member, I will give. I will serve. I will minister. I will evangelize. I will study. I will seek to be a blessing to others. I will remember that “if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:26).

I am a church member.

I will seek to be a source of unity in the church. I know there are no perfect pastors, staff, or other church members. But neither am I. I will not be a source of gossip or dissension. One of the greatest contributions I can make is to do all I can in God’s power to help keep the church in unity for the sake of the gospel.

I am a church member.

I will not let my church be about my preferences and desires. That is self-serving. I am in this church to serve others and to serve Christ. My Savior went to a cross for me. I can deal with any inconveniences and matters that are just not my preference or style.

I am a church member.

I will pray for my pastor every day. His work is never-ending. His days are filled with constant demands for his time—with the need to prepare sermons, with those who are rejoicing in births, with those who are traveling through the valley of the shadow of death, with critics, with the hurts and hopes of others, and with the need to be a husband and a father. My pastor cannot serve our church in his own power. I will pray for God’s strength for him and his family every day.

I am a church member.

I will lead my family to be good members of this church as well. We will pray together for our church. We will worship together in our church. We will serve together in our church. And we will ask Christ to help us fall deeper in love with this church, because He gave His life for her.

I am a church member.

This membership is a gift. When I received the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, I became a part of the body of Christ. I soon thereafter identified with a local body and was baptized. And now I am humbled and honored to serve and to love others in our church. I pray that I will never take my membership for granted, but see it as a gift and an opportunity to serve others and to be a part of something so much greater than any one person or member.

I am a church member.

And I thank God that I am.