When we become Christians, we don’t just belong to ourselves. We belong to Jesus – and also to each other. The Bible describes believers as the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-21) and a temple of the Holy Spirit that is being built together, stone by stone (1 Peter 2:4-5).

That’s what church membership is all about.

It’s an expression of our covenant relationship with Christ, which we reflect in a covenant relationship with other believers by loving, serving, encouraging and confessing our sins to one another – amongst many other things! It’s a public commitment to doing that here at LBC, under the care and direction of our pastoral team (1 Peter 5:2).

What does becoming a member involve?

We expect members to be faithful disciples who love Jesus, worship regularly with each other, grow spiritually, care for others, give generously, honour their leaders and serve wholeheartedly – in other words, the same things any faithful Christian seeks to do to honour Christ. In essence, members are people who say, “We’re going to help one another to know and follow Jesus through being the Body of Christ in this place.”

You can read more about these principles and what it means to be a member here in our booklet, Church Membership at LBC. For a copy, please contact office@lymingtonbaptist.org..

How do I become a member?

We run regular membership evenings for people who want to become a member of LBC, or who are interested in exploring what it means to be one. Please drop us a line at office@lymingtonbaptist.org to find out when the next one is happening. As a Baptist church, we put new membership applications to a public vote. We would then welcome you formally into the church at a Sunday service.

What meetings do you hold for members?

We have three different kinds of meetings for members:

Ordinary Church Members’ Meeting (OCMM, usually called CMM): We normally hold these four times a year. They begin with a time of worship, followed by an opportunity to discuss, and sometimes vote on, the continuing, routine business of the church. CMMs are an important means of communication in the church.

Annual General Meeting (AGM): As the name suggests, we hold this meeting once a year so that our leadership team can present a report on the church’s activity over the past 12 months, including the annual accounts. It’s often also used as an opportunity to set LBC’s vision for the coming year.

Special Church Members’ Meeting (SCMM): These meetings are called whenever the church has a “special” decision to make, for example if we plan to nominate somebody to become a new church elder.

For a copy of the church membership booklet please contact the church office.