Many Members, One Body
Watch this sermon series on Membership at Emmanuel Church.

 

MEANINGFUL MEMBERSHIP AT EMMANUEL CHURCH

Meaningful Membership is important to healthy churches, and growing disciples

We are so glad you are interested in learning more about membership at Emmanuel Church.

 

“Church membership is a formal relationship between a church and a Christian
characterized by the church’s affirmation and oversight of a Christian’s discipleship

and the Christian’s submission to living out his or her discipleship in the care of the church.”

- 40 Questions about Church Membership and Discipline Definition of Church Membership

 

At Emmanuel Church, we hold to the following two convictions:

1. The Bible teaches that every Christian should be an attending, committed, active, serving member of a local church, whenever possible.

 

2. The Bible teaches that every Christian, being a member in a meaningful way, will help the whole church grow in Christlikeness.

 

In the New Testament, the church is the assembly of the people of God who have responded to the call of the gospel with repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, and have been made one with Christ through baptism with the Holy Spirit, and have been baptized by immersion as an act of obedience to the Lord's command. At Emmanuel we are glad to receive into membership those who repent of their sins, actively confess Jesus as Lord, and have been biblically baptized.

(See our page on Believer's Baptism) 

 

 

Joining Emmanuel Church involves four steps:

  1. Attend Exploring Emmanuel, our member training class
     
  2. Meet with a member of the Connect Team (an Elder, staff member, or approved ministry head) to share your testimony, ask questions, and discuss and sign your membership application.
     
  3. Agree to our membership covenant and basic expectations.

    At the conclusion of each member interview, we say the following, and ask the candidate to agree:

    “We have very basic expectations of all our members at Emmanuel. Besides affirming our Church Covenant and Statement of Faith, we ask that members make the following six items a priority:

    1. Attend regularly (scheduled corporate gatherings, special gatherings as possible).

    2. Get to know fellow church members (begin with your Community Group, D-Group, etc.).

    3. Prioritize the Lord’s Supper (attend when scheduled, heart preparation beforehand).

    4. Attend scheduled Members’ Meetings.

    5. Give faithfully to support the ministry and mission of the church.

    6. Pray regularly for the church.
     
  4. Actively pursue discipleship as part of Emmanuel Church (baptism, faithful attendance, sacrificial giving, small groups, community, events, eQuip, etc.,)

 

A person is an active member of this church only as long as he/she lives within this community, and is actively pursuing the committed Christian life with the congregation at Emmanuel.