What Is Church Membership?

There are two basic memberships within the United Methodist Church:

• Baptized members and

• Professing members.

Adults may join our congregation through profession of faith and reaffirmation of baptismal vows, adult baptism, or by transfer from another denomination or United Methodist Church.

Infants and children become a part of our church family either when they are baptized, when their families become a part of the church, or when they are confirmed.

Individuals and families are welcome to visit our congregation for as long as they like! When you are ready to take vows of church membership, please come forward at the invitation, issued at the end of the service. Please bring the “New Member Registration” form with you. In the United Methodist tradition, we ask each member to support the church with prayers, presence, gifts and service.

We ask all new and prospective members to attend an “Alliance Orientation” session. These are offered at least quarterly. Please call the church office to see when the next one is scheduled.

Baptism is the primary means by which one becomes a member of the Church. As United Methodist Christians, we celebrate infant, youth and adult baptism, by immersion, pouring, and sprinkling. We do so because baptism is God’s free gift and there is nothing one may do to “deserve” baptism. We do not re-baptize in the UMC because what God does, God does well and we as humans do not need to re-do!

One may join the United Methodist Church through the sacrament of Holy Baptism. As an adult, one is then a full member (or baptized member) of the United Methodist Church. As an infant or child, the child’s parents or baptismal sponsors answer on behalf of the child and pledge to help the child grow up in the Christian faith until that child is able to profess his/her faith on their own. We call an infant or child who has been baptized a preparatory member. Preparatory members typically join the UMC after a training program during which they learn about the church and choose whether they want to confirm the vows made for them at their baptism. Then, if they so choose, they may confirm their vows before the church and thereby become a full member through confirmation.

If one has been baptized in another UM congregation or another denomination, they may be received into membership by transfer of their membership. There are some denominations, however, which will not allow transfers from their congregation or into another. Also, where there has been an extended absence of participation in a local church between baptism and adult membership, members may choose to join by profession of faith and reaffirmation of baptismal vows.

Affiliate members are those individuals who are members of a UMC who are away from home for an extended period of time and who temporarily join another UMC. They may become affiliate members which allows them local church privileges and then they return their membership to their home congregation after this period is over. A member of another denomination may go through a similar process and become associate members. Associate members, however, may not become voting members of the administrative council.

A constituent member is one who has not officially joined the church, but in the event of a family emergency or situation in which pastoral care is needed, the pastor regards the family close enough to the church that the pastor thinks s/he would be contacted for pastoral care.

Members may be removed from the church rolls by similar standards – by transfer out to another UMC or another denomination, by withdrawal of their church membership, or by removal of charge conference action. Removal by charge conference action is reserved for those individuals with whom the local church has lost contact, and who after three attempts are “unreachable.” The list of those names to be removed is read at three consecutive (annual) charge conferences, after which they are removed.