Membership

Membership at Mercy Baptist Church

Thanks for visiting our church and inquiring about membership at Mercy Baptist Church! We take membership very seriously at our church. God intends for Christians to be involved in each other’s lives, not living their lives in solitude. For the glory of God and the good of each other, we help each other walk in the Spirit.

 

Learning more about Mercy Baptist Church

 We recommend the following resources that describe what membership at MBC is like. We have many of these titles available to give to you, so ask leadership if you have an interest.

    1. Booklets of our beliefs: London Confession of Faith (1689) in original 17th century language, and modernized edition of the London Confession
    2. Dever’s What Is a Healthy Church?
    3. Anyabwile’s What Is a Healthy Church Member?
    4. Parsons’s Why Do We Have Creeds?
    5. Dever and Dunlop’s The Compelling Community

 

How to apply for membership:

    1. Read our confession of faith and bylaws and constitution.
    2. Listen to “Introduction to” Mercy Baptist Church, a 4-part Sunday school series on the basics of Mercy Baptist (then called The King’s Chapel): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
    3. Fill out a membership application, which includes your covenant with our church and its members. (Let us know if you’d like a hard copy of the application.)
    4. After receiving your application, the elder(s) will interview you.
    5. The elder(s) will recommend you to the church family for membership, and give them a chance to talk with you about your profession of faith, baptism, and Christian testimony.
    6. At a members meeting, the current members will vote you into membership with the following statement:

      “Upon profession of faith, subsequent baptism, and interview with the elders, I commend _ _ _ _ and _ _ _ _ to you, the members, to vote for them to become members of Mercy Baptist Church. All in favor, say aye. Opposed, no.”

      7. At that meeting, the current members and the new members will covenant together using the members covenant.

Get to know the people, ask questions, tell of your conversion to others, learn of their conversion, and keep prayerfully considering whether it’s the Lord’s will for you to join this church!

 

Members Covenant

Having been born again by the Spirit of God and drawn to faith and repentance in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in light of our baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we now covenant with one another as members of Christ’s body.

With prayerful dependence on God, we will:

    • Magnify Jesus Christ and his cross in all that we do, remembering that we are sinners saved by grace
    • Surrender our hearts and lives to God’s word
    • Exemplify a true Christian community by cultivating humility; loving, caring, and admonishing one another; sharing in each other’s joys and bearing each other’s burdens; and by seeking unity, purity, and peace
    • Walk by the Spirit, living holy lives rather than indulging in the flesh; forgiving and being forgiven as God has forgiven us in Christ
    • Serve the Lord and our brothers and sisters in the work of the ministry, exercise our spiritual gifts in the church body, and show hospitality
    • Recognize that Christ has granted us liberty of conscience concerning things not commanded in God’s word
    • Be faithful in God’s word and prayer by studying the Bible privately and corporately and praying for ourselves and others
    • Bring the power of God’s gospel to those in our care and acquaintance by word and action, praying that Christ would save unbelievers and strengthen believers
    • Participate actively in the life of the church, gathering as a church family, receiving the word of God, and observing the Lord’s Supper
    • Give cheerfully and regularly to the Lord by financially supporting the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel to all nations
    • Administer church discipline with a heart of love, always ready for reconciliation, and when needed, receive discipline with humility
    • Submit to the biblical leadership of our church’s elders and hold both our elders and deacons accountable to the duties and qualifications of their scriptural calling
    • Seek dismissal from this church and covenant, if we should move from this local congregation, and as soon as possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of the word of God

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.