Membership

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. – 1 Peter 2:9 – 10

Why Membership?

A short answer to the purpose of membership: Membership is the public expression of corporate commitment to Jesus as our Lord and King, and the entrance, through faith, repentance, and baptism, into His Kingdom as a member of the local church. Through membership, we express our love and commitment to submit ourselves to the authority of Jesus, the scriptures, and the leadership of the local church body. The outcome of membership is that we, as the body, would lovingly care for one another, be built up in our most holy faith, equipped for every good work prepared for us in Christ Jesus. Those who confess with the mouth and believe in the heart that Jesus is Lord, expressed through a life of faith, bearing fruit of the Spirit, evidenced in submission to Christ and His church, regeneration, repentance, faith, and baptism, and submit to the doctrinal standards of scripture as laid out in our statement of faith are welcomed into membership at Hope Fellowship.

We invite people into membership after attending the Membership Class, at which they will discuss the sermons from the membership series and get to know the leadership of the church. We ask that a person be in attendance at Hope for one year before being welcomed into membership. You can take the class at any time during that year.

Four Steps to Membership

Listen

Listen and / or read the following membership sermons located below. There are 6 sermons. The series is called Belonging In Christ.

Who Is Jesus?

by Bobby Gaither

God is the Gospel: Seeing the Glory of God in Jesus Christ

by Bobby Gaither

What is the Church?: The Church and the Kingdom of Christ

by Bobby Gaither

What is Scripture?

by Jeremy Jones

Baptism and Communion: New Covenant Signs for New Covenant People

by Bobby Gaither

Why Membership?

by Chris Gorman

Read

Read the doctrinal statement of the church. Mark any questions you may have and we can talk through them at our membership meeting.

Write

Fill out the Hope Fellowship Member Application. You can click the link; hard copies also found in the church foyer.

Meet

Part of “Meeting” is taking the Hope Fellowship Membership class, which takes place bi-annually. Fill out the contact form below to start the process of the membership class. Sometime during the six weeks of class, an elder at Hope will meet with you, walk through the application, doctrinal statement, questions, and concerns. Also, at this time, an elder should be able to affirm the presence of fruit in your life, evidence of His Spirit. In or after the meeting, the elder should be able to affirm membership, or ask questions and give explanation should there be anything missing or awry. It should be a joyous, life-giving process.

Membership Contact Form

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