First Steps – Membership Discernment
For steps on becoming a professing member of PEUMC, scroll down to the RED section.
Why should I become a church member?
Church membership is often understood as an unfortunate byproduct of institutional religion. But it is still an important element in our spirituality. And it is biblical: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members form just one body, so it is with Christ. Now you are the Body of Christ and individual members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27). The Apostle Paul is describing Christ-followers as members of the Church – the Body of Christ. This Body is both mystical and institutional. It is both local and Universal. Because Christ is the Head of His Body, the Church, in one sense, is complete & perfect; but because humans are partners with Christ, the Church is hopelessly imperfect & incomplete. We often distinguish this between the BIG C ‘Church’ and the little c ‘church.’
This fellowship of Christians is experienced locally even as it stretches across space (Church Universal) and across time (Church Triumphant). It includes believers of every language and culture on earth as well as those who have died and gone on to glory, which many call the “Communion of Saints.”
Church members are those who have publicly announced (in essence) “I want to live in Christ Jesus.” And a congregation is one whose members choose to live together and support one another in their journeys.
Why is church membership important?
Membership provides a concrete expression of belonging and community, allowing individuals to connect with like-minded believers and to grow spiritually together. Our Methodist founder, The Rev. John Wesley, once said, “‘Holy solitaries’ is a phrase inconsistent with the Gospel. The Gospel of Christ knows no religion but social; no holiness, but social holiness.” Christians certainly live out their faith in their personal and daily lives, but this same faith matures and expands in community.
We simply cannot be Christians alone.
Isn’t professing faith in Christ enough? As the saying goes, “If you wanna love God, you gotta love God’s people.” Loving God means loving the people God loves. From the beginning of human history, God has been placing us together in communities. “It is not good for human to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Professing faith in Christ is also professing faith in the Body of which Christ is the Head – the Church.
How is membership related to discipleship?
Discipleship is the ultimate goal, not membership. Membership is an important step in the journey toward discipleship. While church-goers are recipients of the church’s ministry, disciples are held responsible for it. Moving from constituent (active non-member) to active member to active discipleship is a journey through which we see ourselves less and less as a recipient and more as an accountable contributor to the church’s mission.
For many, the first question that comes to mind is: What can this church provide for me? This is understandable. We want to benefit from the blessings and benefits of the Body of Christ. But the pathway toward discipleship is a journey of claiming responsibility for helping the church provide these blessings and benefits to others.
Ask not what the Church can do for you but what you can do for the Church.
William Temple, former Archbishop of Canterbury, once said, “The church is the only society in the world that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.”
How is membership related to baptism?
All members of United Methodist congregations must be, or have been, baptized. This is true of almost all denominations. An infant can be baptized immediately after birth and they become a “member” in the familial sense, much like a newborn is the newest member of their family. Their baptism is an acknowledgement that this child is already a Child of God and a member of God’s family in the spiritual sense. When they reach the age of reason, they take a course that is commonly called “Confirmation” that helps them claim the faith for themselves. By publicly announcing their faith in Christ and vowing to support the local congregation, they become Professing (voting) Members. All who are baptized as youth or adults, including all who transfer their membership from other congregations, immediately become Professing Members. Those who are baptized in infancy are members without vote (like being a U.S. citizen while a minor). All Professing Members have voice and serving privileges in the leadership of the local church.
How does local membership
relate to the denomination?
Baptism, while it is required for membership, relates more to the mystical membership of the Body of Christ, connecting us to all believers across time and space. But baptism also has implications on the local and denominational levels as well. Members are received as members of the local congregation and as members of the denomination.
The United Methodist Church is a powerhouse for good. Laity (people in the pews) represent no less than 99.7% of the missional work of the denomination. Our commissions, agencies, boards, caucuses, conferences, etc. are supported by the work of the people. Clergy make up only a small portion of the denomination’s outreach capabilities. Each layperson, whether they are elected as lay members to Annual Conference (to represent the local congregation on the state-level) or even as lay delegates to General Conference (to represent the Annual Conference on the global level) they must be “in good standing” in a local congregation. So membership on a denominational level is an important piece to having a voice in a Church that has over 12,000,000 members worldwide and is part of a Pan-Methodist coalition of over 80,000,000 members globally. For all who wish to use the power of their voice and hands, it is well worth it to remain “in good standing” in their local congregation.
Perhaps, in this moment, you have no intention of serving the Church beyond the local unit, but thousands over the decades have come to claim their voice and abilities as they began to serve and grow through special missional opportunities that open for them on the regional, national, and international levels of our denomination.
For this reason, when one is received into the local congregation as a new member they are also received as the world’s newest United Methodist!
How does membership relate to the pastoral ministries of the church?
Membership is a public statement of how one wishes to relate to their community of faith. While a congregation’s care is not limited to members only, it is helpful to know how each person wishes to relate to the congregation. When a congregation is discerning a missional initiative, knowing who is “in” and who is “out” is vital in knowing its missional capacity.
“How long are you going to sit on the fence?” (1 Kings 18:21). When it comes to our declaration of wanting to grow and mature in the Spirit within a community of faith, becoming a member is how we “make our ‘yes’ a ‘yes’ or our ‘no’ a ‘no’” (Matthew 5:37).
While members do not necessary receive “better” care or “more” benefits, membership is the church’s main mechanism for offering its healing and nurturing resources to others. What are the needs in the community and how many committed, active members do we have that can help us meet these needs?
Many individuals may struggle with committing to church membership, in part, because they always imagine themselves as somehow “separate” from the rest of the congregation with which they worship. They enjoy the fellowship and music, but they allow the other members to carry the weight of leading.
As a community of faith, no church could provide anything of worth or quality if all it had were loosely-associated individuals who came and went as they pleased and remained half-committed in their support of the church whenever it suited their interests and needs. Instead, the church relies on its committed membership to reach beyond its walls into the community around it and beyond! It takes a village!
This is not an institutional gimmick. It’s the biblical model of the People of God: “To each member is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7). Each member becomes gifted through the Spirit “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up the Body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12).
Do I need to be baptized again?
No. Regardless of your previous church tradition, or the mode of baptism (immersion, pouring, dipping, or sprinkling), or your age at the time of baptism (infancy, adolescence, young adulthood, etc.) your baptism will be recognized in our church. Baptism is a universal Christian Sacrament. Nobody is “baptized a Baptist,” “baptized a Presbyterian,” etc. We are baptized a Christian. Period.
For those who want to remember their baptisms (or remember ‘that they are baptized’), there are rituals throughout the year dedicated to Baptismal Remembrances.
Everyone who enters membership at PEUMC will reaffirm their baptismal vows and remember their baptisms with water in the font.
Baptisms and memberships from other denominations can be easily transferred to PEUMC.
I want to be baptized again; what should I do?
United Methodists, like most Christian traditions, do not practice re-baptisms. But there are many reasons why people may wish to be baptized a second or third time.
Baptism is a sign of God’s work in our lives, not what we have accomplished. God baptizes us; we don’t baptize ourselves. Regardless of age, mode, or tradition, we believe that baptism the first time is the correct one.
We do offer baptismal remembrance ceremonies in which vows can be publicly reaffirmed.
Once, there was a woman who wanted to be immersed because she was “only sprinkled” the first time. She, her pastor, and members of the congregation gathered in the backyard of a member’s home to witness her remembrance of baptism. In an informal ceremony, she immersed herself in the pool. This is an acceptable option.
I want to have a private baptism; can I do that?
Only in special, emergency cases are baptisms conducted privately. This usually involves an impending death. In normal cases, baptisms are to be conducted before the worshipping congregation, since baptism is our initiation into the fellowship of the church. It would be odd for any organization to have members join their ranks in private.
Baptism is so interwoven with the worshipping and discipleship life of the congregation that it cannot be separated from it.
For those who prefer a private baptism must accept the fact that they understand baptism as a purely God-and-me ritual that is completely devoid of the covenant community to which baptism points.
I want my child to be baptized; what should I do?
- Talk to PEUMC’s pastor. One parent, or guardian, at the very least, should be a professing member of this congregation. Baptism is not a free service the church provides for the neighborhood at will; all baptized persons, including newborns, are recorded as Baptized Members of the congregation, and their records are retained in our office perpetually (copies of which are sent to new congregations when a transfer is requested).
- The pastor will want to sit down with you over two sessions to talk about the meaning of baptism and membership vows. These 2 1-hour sessions is a path called COME TO THE WATERS. This is recommended for all parents and guardians wishing to have their child(ren) baptized.
What are the steps to become a (professing) member of Port Edwards United Methodist Church?
- Reach out to PEUMC’s pastor. The pastor will want to sit down with you (and your family) over coffee or a meal to get to know each other and to establish the next steps.
NEXT STEPS:
A. I am seeking baptism and/or membership for the very first time.
(for ‘transfers,’ see B. below)
i. The pastor will want to sit down with you to discuss a series of resources
produced by trusted United Methodist leaders.
This pathway will take place in nine 1-hour sessions and is called
BECOMING A DISCIPLE.
ii. A sponsor (companion) will be assigned to you.
iii. Baptisms may be scheduled throughout the year.
Baptisms must take place during a Sunday worship celebration before the
congregation. We do not perform private baptisms. There are five
preferred baptismal dates in the year: World Communion Sunday [first
Sunday in October], All Saints Day, [first Sunday in November] Baptism of
the Lord’s Day [Mid-January], Easter [springtime], and Day of Pentecost
[early summer].
iv. A follow-up pathway will take place in the weeks following your baptism.
This will take place in three 1-hour sessions.
This pathway is called WALKING THE WALK.
B. I am seeking to transfer my membership to PEUMC.
a.) From another Christian denomination?
i. The pastor will want to sit down with you to discuss what it means to be a
United Methodist Christian. This will take place in 3 1-hour sessions.
This pathway is called LIVING AS A UNITED METHODIST CHRISTIAN.
ii. A sponsor (companion) will be assigned to you.
iii. Transfers may be scheduled throughout the year.
Reception into membership must take place during a Sunday worship
celebration before the congregation.
iv. A follow-up pathway will take place in the weeks following your reception.
This will take place in 3 1-hour sessions.
This pathway is called WALKING THE WALK.
b.) From another United Methodist church?
i. A sponsor (companion) will be assigned to you.
ii. Transfers may be scheduled throughout the year.
Reception into membership must take place during a Sunday worship
celebration before the congregation. We ask that even transfers between
United Methodist congregations reaffirm all the vows publicly.
iii. A follow-up pathway will take place in the weeks following your reception.
This will take place in 3 1-hour sessions.
This pathway is called WALKING THE WALK.
Why Are Classes Necessary?
These sessions are not classes. There are no assignments, grades, or tests. These sessions are not about facts and figures. They are to help participants develop the tools to continue growing and maturing as disciples for Christ. And those entering these pathways are not obligated to finish them or professing membership at their conclusion.
The 9-session pathway called BECOMING A DISCIPLE is for those seeking baptism or membership for the first time. This is our version of Confirmation, but it is for all ages. This is our most comprehensive pathway that covers such topics as: God, Jesus, Worship, The Bible, Spiritual Life, etc.
The 3-session pathway called LIVING AS A UNITED METHODIST CHRISTIAN is for those transferring their membership from another Christian tradition. This pathway sets the stage for exploring the belief and practices of the UMC.
One of the most important pathways we offer is a 3-session pathway called WALKING THE WALK. This is for all who have been baptized or received as members. We believe that limiting “new member classes” to the time just before baptism/reception gives participants the impression that their public profession of faith is a kind of graduation; church participation often severely slumps after this important benchmark has been reached. Providing this short pathway following one’s reception into the congregation helps to confirm within a person that being a member is to pursue, as a lifelong journey, vital discipleship. Our journey does not end at baptism or confirmation. It’s just beginning! This pathway focuses on discerning the ways we are being called to live out our faith actively in our daily lives.
Each session will involve the pastor and a different member/leader of the congregation. This intimate setting helps to establish deeper relationships and honest conversations.
