Membership

Belonging to a Church

What does membership in a church require, and what does it mean? Being a church member means you represent that church, and at a deeper level, you represent what it means to be a person who follows Christ. By aligning yourself with a church, not only are you being obedient to God’s command to be a part of the body of Christ at a local level, but you are also entering into a gospel community in which you will be surrounded by people committed to walking with you as fellow Christians. It is a community centered around Christ - a place to grow in your faith, learn, serve, worship and live out the Christian life among other believers.  It is a community like no other.

Can you still attend church without being a member?  Absolutely. All are welcome, but membership at Easton Baptist is reserved for those who have professed their faith in Jesus Christ, been baptized, agree with our core beliefs, and are committed to following God and loving others.

As such, church membership means you willingly put yourself under the spiritual authority of God and His church (Hebrews 13:17). We are happy to talk to you further about what church membership means and encourage you to attend one our membership classes.

Baptism after Salvation

After trusting Jesus as your personal Savior, the first step of obedience to Jesus is to identify with Him by baptism. At the time a believer is baptized, he or she can enter the membership of the church, so long as that person is ready to unite.

Statement of Faith or Transfer of Membership

A believer may be affirmed into the membership if he or she has previously followed the Lord in believer’s baptism and has been included in the membership of another local church of like faith.

Statement of Faith by Baptism

A believer who may not have been scripturally baptized in a church of like faith may join the church through a statement of faith by baptism. This would be fitting for a believer if the mode of baptism was not immersion or if the doctrine of the previous church differs from biblical teaching.

We have a church community to encourage us to continue to pursue our relationship with God, strive to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” and love and serve others along the way.  Church membership is a beautiful thing. It is like joining a family, but this time with God as our Head.