Membership

 

Vision

Our Church Vision is "To engraft the believer into our local organized community of faith by rooting and establishing them in those things that bind Christians together in all places and times: Creed, Community, and Communion with the triune God."

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This "engrafting" is the same kind of language Jesus uses for the Vine and branches. "I am the vine, you are the branches, Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5). Because the church is Christ's body on earth, we do not believe that Christians can exist apart from other Christians. We also believe that the best and most healthy way for to exist together is by making a formal covenant with one another to uphold one another. That is how we understand church membership. It is a mutual, formal agreement to enter into a relationship with one another on the local level for the edification, help, and accountability of the church and the individual.

 

Becoming a Member

Membership requires meeting with the elders and being able to articulate the following three things: 

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• Articulate a credible testimony of faith in the living God.
• Read and understand how our church constitution works and come with questions.
• Read the Confession of Faith (the London Baptist 1689) and be able to agree with the chapter headings.*
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    (* our elders and deacons have a higher standard of "subscription" to the confession than our            members should have).

 

Non Members

We do realize that the idea of membership is difficult for people to understand and accept. Though it is our goal to see all of our people come to embrace it, membership is not required for attending services, functions, or activities of the church. Guests are more than invited, but are welcome at RBCNC, as are those who have not yet come to embrace our view of membership.