What is required to be a member of your congregation?

[Major1]

I'm curious as to the scriptural support for "memberships"...

In Acts 20:28...…….
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

Paul tells the Ephesian elders to “take heed to yourselves and to all the flock.” Their flock was not anyone who showed up or everyone in the city, there was a recognized constituency to this flock for whom the elders would give account.

In Hebrews 13:17...……..
"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."

The writer says that the church is to respect their elders because “they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account.” For whom do they watch out and give an account, certainly not all people in the community indiscriminately, for how would they accomplish such a task.

We see repeatedly through the Scriptures that we are to obey those who have the authority over us. One cannot obey the “one another” commands of Scripture apart from a church context.

Some examples:
1. Galatians 6:2...…….
" Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."
2. Ephesians 4:2...…….
"with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love."
3. James 4:11 ...........
"Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge."
4. James 5:9 ......….
"Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door'!

 

[Paidiske]

Romans 10:9.………
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

We believe that that only born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ can be part of the assembly.

We do that because there is only salvation in Jesus Christ and nothing in what we do or try to do and Christian churches should only be for Christians.

So what do you require from people as evidence of their being a born again believer?

 

[Major1]

So what do you require from people as evidence of their being a born again believer?

Of course we require that anyone seeking to be a church member be a saved person.

Many Baptist churches, if such a person has not been baptized by immersion as a believer in Christ, a Baptist church will require that he or she indicate faith in Christ and be baptized before becoming a member. If the person has been immersed as a believer, but that baptism was considered necessary for salvation, many Baptist churches will require the person to be baptized before becoming a member; this is done in order to make clear that baptism, while important, is not necessary for salvation.

Then a person may give Their statement of faith.

A letter from their previous church declaring that they were a member in good standing.

 

[thecolorsblend]

I emailed the pastor of my parish and asked him to transfer my registration to a different parish. The process probably took a week or three to complete, I'd imagine.

Becoming a member of the parish required that I be Catholic. As I am Catholic, that wasn't a problem.

Becoming Catholic posed a slightly bigger challenge but I'm not sure if that's what the OP is asking for so maybe I'll keep that story to myself for now.

 

[Albion]

Agreed. It really is necessary to know more details in order to answer the poll. Are we talking about transferring a membership or just coming in cold? Are we thinking about a change of denominations or just a change of congregations/parishes? If it is the first of these, it makes a big difference which denominations we are speaking of. And so on.

 

[bbbbbbb]

For Catholics and many other denominations the requirements for membership are really quite simple - be born. Virtually all babies of members are considered to be members of their parents' denomination at one level or another. To be sure, baptism in many denominations is performed on the baby, but even unbaptized babies of members are still counted as at least potential members.

 

[mreeed]

Agreed. It really is necessary to know more details in order to answer the poll. Are we talking about transferring a membership or just coming in cold? Are we thinking about a change of denominations or just a change of congregations/parishes? If it is the first of these, it makes a big difference which denominations we are speaking of. And so on.

All of the above, and whatever you can clarify more specifically in comments is helpful. My OP was originally posted in a denominational forum so unfortunately the poll doesn't translate perfectly. It is interesting to learn about the differences between denominations.