Slideshow image

Please note that this is a working document that gives you an idea of what we are working towards. As questions are asked, we will update things, which will be finalized ahead of our Year End Meeting in November.

 

Our goal as a church is that we join together to support one another and pursue what God is inviting us to do. That is the essence behind our membership covenant as we desire to pursue Christ as we recover the abundant life that Jesus calls us into.

Attached below you will find our Church Membership Covenant along a proposal for how we maintain church membership, moving from a "lifetime membership" to a "yearly membership."

Q&A

  1. What does baptism look like at FGBC?
    1. We believe in and practice believers baptism, meaning that in order to be a member, you must be baptized by immersion or sprinkling as a teen or adult, not as an infant.
  2. How will we know who is a member?
    1. There will be an up to date membership list kept at the FGBC office. Many people currently don't actually know who is a member, so nothing will really change.
  3. Will there be a way that I can renew my membership each year?
    1. Yes and no. The goal of the yearly membership is that we re-covenant to our church family. By checking a "renew" box, we can easily forget to read that membership covenant. By signing up again to become a member, we are forced to choose annually whether we are committing to FGBC.
  4. What if I am not good with technology and miss the memo that membership needs to be renewed? 
    1. There will be a period of time from October until the end of December each year when the membership form can be filled out. As church leaders, during that time we will be on the lookout for people who were members last year but haven't renewed their committment for next year, yet are still active parts of the church. Maybe they missed the memo. Maybe they got busy and forgot. Maybe they are having trouble navigating the new membership structure. Our goal isn't to leave anyone behind, but to join together in what God is inviting us into.
  5. Is there going to be a greater expectation on members than there already is?
    1. The hope is that a person who commits to being a member is committing to be invovled in the life of the church. Annual membership puts no greater burden or expectation on an individual than the "forever membership."
  6. In the past, new members have been voted on and extended the "Right Hand of Fellowship." Will that change?
    1. There will no longer be a formal vote on new members, nor will there be membership interviews. There will be a plan to formally welcome in new members and communicate that to the congregation.
  7. Since we are in some ways making it easier to become a member, will there be ways that people can be denied membership?
    1. As church leaders, we aim to know as many people as we can. As such, we have an idea of how people live out their faith. If there is someone who tries to become a member that we don't know or someone who we know is not abiding by the six covenant standards, we as church leaders can step in to either rectify the situation or deny membership as needed.
  8. Why the requirement to notify someone in leadership of their desire to leave Fort George Baptist Church?
    1. Our church leadership often talks about people who we haven't seen around in a while. Sometimes people leave because they have moved. Sometimes people leave because of life circumstances. Sometimes people leave because we have hurt them. Often we have no idea why someone has left. It is not wrong for someone to leave a church and start attending another church. We want to either bless people as they go elsewhere, or apologize if we have hurt them. We can't do either of these things if we are not notified.
Downloads