Membership

Covenant membership is a commitment to one another—a willing pledge to guard, care, submit, support, and minister together for the building up of our church body.  Those interested in covenant membership at SHBC follow the steps below:

 

Attend a Starting Point class. 

Starting Point is a membership class that has a two-fold purpose:

• To provide an informal setting to learn what the pastoral staff, church, and Baptists in general believe on various topics.  All are welcome, whether or not they are interested in membership.

• To give an opportunity for potential members to become acquainted with a pastor who can help them connect with one or more of the church's ministries. The “Starting Point” class  is a requirement for church membership.  To learn more about Starting Point, click HERE

 

Baptism (if needed)

If you have not yet been baptized as a believer by immersion, baptism is the next step to proceeding toward covenant membership.  

 

New Members Interview

One or two pastors will be assigned to meet with you for a membership interview.  In this meeting, you will provide a brief biographical sketch and share God's work of conversion in your life.  Pastors will also be able to: 

• Learn how the Lord drew you to Himself.

• Confirm you have a good understanding of the meaning of church membership.

• Confirm that there are no biblically warranted concerns with your joining SHBC as a covenant member.

• Answer questions about serving in the church or help you connect with others. 

 

Covenant Affirmation

After you have decided to join SHBC, you will sign the church covenant and be affirmed by the church on a Sunday morning during our worship service.  

​

A Church-wide Covenant Affirmation for new members is held during our weekend worship services. Each potential new member voices his or her hearty "I do" to the Church Covenant and is received by congregational vote into Sheridan Hills Baptist Church's membership.  Each member of SHBC affirms the following:

​

Our Identification with Christ: Having been led, as we believe by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ. (Titus 3:8; Matthew 10:32-33; John 3:16; Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:3-10; Acts 2:38)

​

Our Involvement with Christ: We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations. (John 13:34-35; Romans 12:5; I Corinthians 3:17; Luke 14:15-24; John 4:23-24; 26:26-29; I Corinthians 5:6-7; Galatians 5:19-21; Titus 1:10-16; II Timothy 3:16; Malachi 3:8-10; I Corinthians 16:2; I Timothy 5:17; Hebrews 13:17; Mark 6:10-11; Acts 5:29, 38-39; Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20)

​

Our Christ-like Practice: We also engage to maintain family and private devotions; to build healthy biblical marriages; to biblically educate our children; to seek the salvation of our family and friends; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our attitudes and actions; to avoid all gossip, tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to clearly abstain from any and all drunkenness whether public or private and to prayerfully consider taking a stance of total abstinence; to refrain from the use of recreational drugs whether legal or illegal; to completely shun pornography; to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior. (Genesis 1:27-28; Genesis 2:18-25; Ephesians 5:31-32; Psalm 1:1-2; Deuteronomy 6:7; Proverbs 22:6; Proverbs 6:16-19; 19:1; I Thessalonians 5:22; Matthew 5:13-16; Gal. 5:19-21; Romans 1:28-32; 14:13-23; Ephesians 5:18; Matthew 18:6; Matthew 5:27-28)

​

Our Christ-Centered Fellowship: We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay. (Hebrews 10:24-25; I Corinthians 10:10; James 1:19; Romans 12:10, 13; Matthew 18:15-17; Romans 15:1-4; Luke 9:23)

​

Our Future Beyond Here: We moreover engage that when we move from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word. (Matthew 6:33; Hebrews 10:24-25)

​

Read our Core Values & Beliefs HERE.

​

For any further questions about church membership at Sheridan Hills Baptist Church, contact us HERE. 

​