church membership

After attending our Membership Class or personally with the pastor, any person may present himself or herself as a candidate for membership in First Baptist Church as follows:

1. By profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and Scriptural baptism, or
   
2. By promise of a letter of recommendation from another Baptist church of like faith and practice, or
   
3. By statement of prior conversion experience and Scriptural baptism in another church of like faith and practice, or   
   
4. By restoration
   

A majority vote of those church members present and voting shall be required to elect such candidates to membership.

Responsibilities of Members

In order to be a responsible member of First Baptist Church, members must:

1. Be in basic agreement with the church’s statement of faith and purpose.
   
2. Discover, develop, and deploy their spiritual gifts in the ministries of the church.
3. Be diligent to live according to the statements of the church covenant.
4. Be faithful in attendance to worship services and Bible study.
5. Become a student of the Word of God and of prayer.
6. Make a commitment to personal evangelism and discipleship.
7. Encourage scriptural stewardship of time, talents, and tithes, and offerings.

Voting responsibilities of members

Only active members of the church are entitled to vote on questions submitted to the church in a church family meeting. An inactive member is defined as a member whose predominant attendance is at another church, or a member who has not attended the church in three (3) months with exceptions to those members who are homebound due to medical reasons or age, or those who are on active military duty. Members must be present to vote. Any questions of eligibility will be referred to the church clerk.

Termination of membership

Membership shall be terminated in the following ways:

1. By death.
   
2. By dismissal to another Baptist church.
3. By disciplinary action of this church as provided in Article I, Section 6.
4. By erasure upon joining with a church of another denomination.
5. By personal request for name to be removed from church membership.

Note: Letters of dismissal shall be granted only to other churches of like faith and order and not to individual members requesting termination of membership.

Discipline

It shall be the basic purpose of First Baptist Church to emphasize to its members that every reasonable measure will be taken to assist any troubled member. The pastor, members of the church staff, and deacons are available for counsel and guidance. Reconciliation rather than punishment should be the guideline that governs the attitude of one member toward another.

Should some serious condition exist which would cause a member to become a liability to the general welfare of the church, every reasonable measure will be taken by the pastor and by the deacons to resolve the problem in accordance with Matthew 18:15-35, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 2 Corinthians 2:1-11.

All such proceedings shall be pervaded by a spirit of Christian kindness and forbearance. If it is determined that the welfare of the church will best be served by the exclusion of the member, the church may take this action by a two-thirds vote of the members present at a meeting called for this purpose; and the church may proceed to declare the offender to be no longer in the membership of the church.

Any person whose membership has been terminated for any condition which has made it necessary for the church to exclude him, may upon his request be restored to membership by the recommendation of the pastor and deacons and an affirmation vote of the church upon evidence of his repentance and reformation.