Church Membership

At Central Highlands Church, new members are received during worship on several occasions throughout the year. Every couple of months, NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION SESSIONS are held at the church. These sessions, led by the pastor, are publicized well in advance.

Some may ask, What is the difference between being a “church member” and a “church attender”? The difference, in one word, is COVENANT. Any church “attender” can participate fully in the church’s ministries and programs. But when one makes the membership promises, he or she enters into a particular covenant with God to support the church with prayers, presence, gifts, and service.

There are three primary ways to join a United Methodist Church:

1. Profession of Faith: One joins by Profession of Faith when one has never before been a member of any church.

2. Letter of Transfer: One joins by Letter of Transfer when one is transferring membership from another congregation.

3. Reaffirmation of Faith: One joins by Reaffirmation of Faith when one is transferring membership from a denomination that does not grant letters of transfer (such as the Roman Catholic Church and some portions of the Lutheran tradition).

Regardless of which of these three “avenues” of membership is chosen, all new members are called upon to respond affirmatively to the following membership questions:

-DO YOU, IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD AND THIS CONGREGATION, REAFFIRM THE SOLEMN VOWS THAT YOU MADE, OR THAT WERE MADE ON YOUR BEHALF, AT YOUR BAPTISM?

-DO YOU TRULY AND EARNESTLY REPENT OF YOUR SIN?

-DO YOU CONFESS JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR, PUT YOUR WHOLE TRUST IN HIS GRACE, AND PROMISE TO SERVE HIM AS YOUR LORD, IN UNION WITH THE CHURCH?

-DO YOU RECEIVE AND PROFESS THE TRUTH OF GOD AS IT IS CONTAINED IN THE SCRIPTURES OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS?

-WILL YOU BE FAITHFUL TO THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN GENERAL, AND TO THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IN PARTICULAR, AND WILL YOU UPHOLD THE CHURCH BY YOUR PRAYERS, YOUR PRESENCE, YOUR GIFTS, AND YOUR SERVICE?

Please make note of that last membership promise. It is a promise that makes clear the fact that church members are expected to offer to the church their “prayers, presence, gifts, and service.” This is the covenant of membership.