Membership - Two Rivers Community Church

Membership

Why Church Membership?

At TRCC we believe that a biblical church should be recognizable by meaningful membership. That is a group of baptized believers who confess the gospel of Jesus and who have devoted themselves to one another. At TRCC there are 5 major steps to church membership.

Step 1. Attend Our New Members Class

The first step in our membership process is attendance in a 3 session course based on our confession of faith. It’s an opportunity for new prospective members to get to know what we believe, and for the pastors to get to know prospective members.

Step 2. Read Our Constitution

It’s a simple step, but it’s an important one. Before becoming a member it’s important for people to know how we were founded and how function as a church body. Even in the procedures found in our Constitution we strive to be faithful to a biblical understanding of the church.

Step 3. Interview With a Pastor/Elder

This interview isn’t looking for a great resume, we’re simply looking for genuine Christian belief in the gospel. We’d love to hear you’re understanding of the gospel, your testimony, and you’re past experience in the life of the church if applicable.

Step 4. Presentation To the Church

At the end of the day, the authority to welcome someone into membership rests with the membership of the church. It’s their responsibility to know the prospective members and welcome them in as fellow believers in the gospel. At TRCC we present prospective members before the church on Sunday morning in our announcements and in our bulletin to be considered for 2 weeks before covenanting with us as members.

Step 5. Covenanting As Members

Each of our members at TRCC make a covenant before the church on Sunday morning. That covenant is also recited by every member in attendance. In one covenant we as a church commit ourselves to our new members as they commit themselves to us for the first time. You can see our membership covenant below.

Two Rivers Community Church Membership Covenant

I. I WILL PROTECT THE UNITY OF MY CHURCH

* By acting in love toward other members.

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.” Romans 12:10

* By refusing to gossip.

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29

* By following its leadership and submitting to the discipline of the church.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” Hebrews 13:17

II. I WILL SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MY CHURCH

* By praying for it.

“To the church … we give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers.” 1 Thessalonians 1:2

* By my witness and by inviting the unchurched to attend.

“Go into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.” Luke 14:23

* By warmly welcoming those who visit.

“Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.” Romans 15:7

III. I WILL SERVE THE MINISTRY OF MY CHURCH

* By discovering my gifts and talents.

“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:10

* By being equipped to serve.

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-12

* By developing a servant’s heart.

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-

IV. I WILL SUPPORT THE TESTIMONY OF MY CHURCH

* By attending faithfully.

“Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25

* By living a godly life.

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” Ephesians 4:1

* By giving regularly.

“Each one of you, on the first day of each week, should set aside a specific sum of money in proportion to what you have earned and use it for the offering.” 1 Corinthians 16:2

I further covenant that when we move from this place, as soon as possible, we will unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.