Today, for many people, commitment to a local church through membership is a very low priority. In fact, it is not uncommon for Christians to move from church to church on a regular basis, never submitting themselves to the care of the Pastor or Elders and never committing themselves to a group of fellow believers.
At SouthPointe, we are passionate about the Church of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus Christ is passionate about His Church. Paul said in Ephesians 5:25-27, "...Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blemish". Jesus said , "I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail (overpower it) against it" ( Matthew 16:18). From these two passages, we get a sense of just how important the church really is.
WHAT DOES MEMBERSHIP MEAN?
Simply stated, membership means "belonging" and "commitment". It means "active participation". It means "getting involved". Membership is not just a list of names of people on a church roll so they can say I'm a member of a church. Membership is a collection of people whose lives have been redeemed by the blood and grace of Jesus Christ, who tirelessly labor to create a local church where other people's lives can be changed, transformed, and nourished, and a place where people can be encouraged to grow in their relationship with Christ. To "belong" to a local church is to formally commit to a local body of believers joined together for God's purposes.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IN THE BIBLE
The Church in the Book of Acts, although more than 2000 years old, must be our blueprint for what a church should look like even in these modern times. By reading the Book of Acts, we find several important things: First, coming to faith in Jesus Christ meant coming to the church. The idea of experiencing salvation without belonging to a local church is foreign to the New Testament teaching. It is clear that when people repented and came to faith in Christ, they were immediately baptized and added to the church (Acts 2:41,47; 5:14; 16:5). This meant joining together with other believers for designed purposes (Acts 2:42).
THE SOUTHPOINTE MEMBERSHIP PROCESS
(1) Attend Our Services For A Brief Period Of Time - This introduction period will give you an opportunity to learn more about who we really are, what we believe, and find out if our church is a good fit for your family.
(2) Learn the Details of What We Believe and Why We Believe It - Prospective members are expected to become familiar the the basic foundational positions of SouthPointe on several key issues. When you make formal application to become a member, you will be asked if you have read and are familiar with the following positions: Our Words, Our Mission, Our Environments, Our Core Values, and Our Statement of Faith.
(3) Affirm What We Believe - After you have attended our services for a brief period of time and have become familiar with our beliefs and strategy, you will be asked to complete a Membership Application, a Questionnaire about your relationship with Jesus Christ, and a Membership Covenant. The Membership Covenant is a definition of what we are committed to as a church and what we expect our members to be committed to.
(4) Meet With A Church Leader - Once you have completed the first three steps of the Membership Process, we would encourage you to meet with a church leader if you have any further questions about our church or the membership process.
(5) Begin Life Together - Welcome to the SouthPointe family!
(6) Get Involved - Because membership equals "commitment" and "involvement", we would like for all of our members to get involved in one or more of our ministries as soon as possible. Please visit our "Involvement Link" on the main page (Step Five), or check out the "Ministry Link" under Helpful Links on the main page.
HELPFUL MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
