Members and Membership

If you profess to believe in Jesus Christ, have repented of your sin, and have placed your faith in Him for your eternal salvation, then you are a member of His church. Essentially, you are a part of the universal church body, of which Christ is the head. But you may be asking yourself if it is important, then, to formally become part of a Bible-believing church where you live.

When Jesus calls a person to Himself, He gives them certain means of grace so that they can communicate with Him, learn more about God and themselves, and experience His riches of relationship so that they can grow up into spiritual maturity. This maturation – sanctification – primarily occurs in the church, where fellow believers pray together, exhort and encourage one another, sing together, and hear God’s Word preached under a pastoral shepherd who knows their situation.

Another (often overlooked) reason to be a member of a Bible-believing church is so that you are under the spiritual care of a pastor and the elders. To your benefit and to the church’s protection, their role is to ensure that congregants are spiritually well fed. And within the church, if a believer is going astray then the governing overseers have the responsibility to lead that congregant back to the ways of God, as shown to us in His Word.

As a believer, you have spiritual gifts that the church needs. And you have needs that only the church can provide. Can you be a Christian outside of the church? – Sure. But why would you want to? More importantly, Jesus doesn’t want you to be isolated from other believers. Christians are called to worship as an assembly – in corporate unity. Church membership is a two-way commitment that benefits both the believer and the church. The fire needs the coal, and if an individual member gets isolated outside the body of the fire, it may be hot for a short while, but it will eventually grow cold and burn out.

The short answer to this question is yes. The Lord Jesus instituted baptism as something all covenantal Christians are to undergo as a sign and seal of the Lord’s saving work in the believer. But not as a matter of being saved, for the act of baptism does not save a person or remove sin.

And because baptism is a blessing unto those who believe and their families, Edgemont accepts the baptism of and performs baptisms upon infants of believing parents. We also accept the baptism of other denominations as long as they are performed in the name of the Holy Trinity – that is, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The vows one takes to become a member of Edgemont Church are the same as all ARP churches:

1. Do you confess that you are a sinner in the sight of God; that you deserve His punishment; that you cannot save yourself; and that you are without hope of salvation except for God's love and mercy?

2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of sinners, and do you receive and trust in Him alone for your salvation?

3. Do you accept the Bible, comprised of the Old and New Testaments, as the written Word of God and that it is the only perfect rule of faith and how to live?

4. Do you promise to trust in the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit so that you can live all of life as a Christian, following the example set by Jesus Christ?

5. Do you promise to exercise faithful stewardship of God’s resources entrusted to you for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom and purposes?

6. Do you accept that the doctrines and principles of the Standards of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church are founded upon the Scriptures?

7. In loving obedience, do you submit yourself to the government and discipline of this church, promising to seek the peace, purity, and prosperity of this congregation as long as you are a member of it?