MEMBERSHIP

Below you will find basic questions and answers re: membership:


Q. What is Church Membership? 

A. A local church is a community of baptized Christ-followers who covenant together to proclaim the message of salvation with the lost world, study the Scriptures, observe the two New Testament ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, worship together corporately, serve each other and the Lord with their respective spiritual giftedness, pray and encourage one another in the faith. Church membership is simply the covenant relationship between an individual Christ follower and the community of Christ followers to which they belong.  

Q. Is church membership biblical?

A. Consider these matters:

  1. Approximately one-half of the New Testament is made up of letters to local churches. 
  2. Early disciples met together for the purpose of learning from the apostles' teaching. (Acts 2:42-47)  
  3. The early church kept some kind of record of members as the Lord added to their number. (Acts 2:42-47)
  4. The word church in the 1st century referred to a literal, physical gathering of people who assembled for a common purpose. Therefore, while the Bible does refer to a universal church, such a church currently exists in concept only as it has yet to physically assemble. The only kind of church that exists today is the local church. Thus, belonging to the universal church is not enough as one cannot belong to a concept, one must belong to a local church.
  5. The bible teaches church discipline--the removal of a member from the local community of believers for a refusal to be broken about clear sin in their life. One cannot be removed from that which he or she has not belonged.  (1 Corinthians 5, Matthew 18:15-17)
  6. Shepherds are required to take care of their flock. It would be impossible for a shepherd to take care of sheep he doesn't know are his. (Acts 20:28)
  7. Members are required to submit to spiritual leaders. (Hebrews 13:17, 1 Thess. 5:12-13, 1 Tim. 5:17) The only possible way to stay accountable to spiritual leaders is within the context of a body of believers who actually know each other.  

Q. What is nehbc's process for becoming a member? 

A. The following is our five-step process:

  • Completion of a Statement of Faith form.  Once you indicate you want to join NEHBC, you will receive this form in the mail. On it, we ask that you write out your salvation story and describe to us your baptism experience, if any.
  • If you have not yet already experienced it by a church of like faith and practice, you will be required to experience New Testament Baptism. 
  • One-time attendance of the Discovery Class--our new members class.
  • Regular attendance at our worship services for a minimum of three months.
  • Vote by our Board of Trustees. Our trustees are representatives from the congregation who work very closely with the Senior Pastor in the matters of the church. Upon completion of the membership process, the Senior Pastor brings the names of the candidates to the trustees for final approval.

Q. How does one begin the membership process?

A. There are a variety of options for initiating this process. The most common is to take the white decision form out of the worship service info guide, fill out one's contact info and drop the white form into the green offering bag when it comes by during the service or in one of the black tithe boxes in the lobby. One can also take the form and give it to any staff member or bring it with you to the pastor during the invitation segment of any worship service.

Q. What is expected of church members?

A. We have three basic expectations for members of NEHBC.  We see them as the three "T's":

  • Time
    • Regular attendance at one of our weekly worship services and in a small group Bible Study.
  • Talent
    • We expect all of our members to have at least one place of service in our local church. 
  • Tithe
    • We hold to the standard of financially giving God 10% of our income.