Some things Baptists believe

The Meaning of Church Membership 

    When one says, "I am a member of a Baptist Church," they are saying more than they belong to some local church. It means that they have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, that their sins have been forgiven, and that they have peace in their soul. It also means they have been obedient to the commands of Christ in following Him in Scriptural baptism and uniting with His church. It also means they have found a new relationship and fellowship with other believers. Church membership should be taken very seriously and looked upon with sacredness. 

    This organization that they have joined is a local organized body of baptized believers equal in rank and privilege. Administering affairs under the headship of Christ, united in belief of what He taught covenanting together to do what He has commanded. A local church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest institution that the world has ever known. Christ established it during His personal ministry and is it's head. He promised that He would be with it through all the ages and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. 

    We have the great privilege of being members of Baptist Churches. They are churches with glorious beginnings. They are churches that have held true to God's Word through persecution and tribulation and whose members have been numbered among the faithful. Truly it is a privilege to be a member of a Baptist Church.

     Membership brings us great opportunity, the opportunity for fellowship in the best fellowship that can be found; an opportunity for Christian growth and development and training through the various departments of the Church organization; and opportunity of Christian service through the program, work and service of the church, to the glory of and in the name of Christ.

     Membership also places upon us an inescapable obligation; an obligation to use our time and our talents for the glory of God; an obligation to support the work in our presence, our talent, our influence, and our means. Our church will never be stronger than its membership. A membership of worldly, careless, negligent, stunned Christians will prevent a church from accomplishing much for the Lord. 

    The need is for every member to be consecrated, trained, and enlisted in active service. Every member is under obligation to be the best member possible under the leading of the Lord, **with the philosophy that, "Every member is a minister." 

    Each member is asked to seek a place of service through our training and enlistment programs within a reasonable amount of time. We then see that membership is not only a high privilege, but also an opportunity and demands great obligation. Too many members have not learned these things and their church means little to them and they mean little to their church. This condition must be changed. 

Won't you change it by making your membership count for Christ?!

The foregoing statements do not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe.