Membership

Being a committed member of BEChurch is critically important to the vitality of the church and to our ongoing mission to reach the lost of Buckingham. Those who have grown up in independent churches may already be familiar with the concept of local church membership but to others it can seem quite an odd concept… why would I want to "join" a church?

The biblical basis for local church membership

Being a member of a local church is something that is not spelled out in the Bible; you'll find the word "member" used plenty of times in reference to the church body but not "membership". However, as we read scripture we see that the principles of local church membership are implied throughout the New Testament in the Gospel, the book of Acts and many of the pastoral epistles.

Now there's an inherent risk doing our theology by assumption. However, that doesn't mean we should ignore these implications either. So while it cannot be said that the Bible says, "Christians must counted as a member of a local church" we're confident that the Bible says, "Christians ought to be counted as a member of a local church."

What is local church membership?

As we understand and teach it, Church membership is about committing yourself to a local gathering of Christians, putting yourself under the spiritual authority of the eldership of that church and committing yourself to love the other members within that church for as long as you are there.

As elders we want to work towards unity in the church and will ensure that you believe the same things that we do as a church, so we'll ask you to confirm that you agree to the basis of faith that we have as a church. We also want the church to work well at a practical level so we'll ask you to agree to abide by the procedures by which the church functions. As a member, the elders will agree to be responsible to God for your spiritual wellbeing and you to agree to hold yourself under the elders' authority in such matters. You'll also agree to uphold the other members of the church in prayer and to holding each other to account in every walk of life in brotherly love.

Members of BEChurch are asked to make the following covenant promises:

Members are accountable to the Lord in upholding one another as a Church. It is assumed that applicants for membership will agree to …

maintain devotion to Christ by giving attention to Scripture; to encourage the family's faith in Christ by personally and daily seeking God's will; to trust and reverence God in all that is done.
meet together on the Lord's day and at other times as the Lord gives opportunity; to serve and glorify God in worship, to edify one another and to seek the good of this Church by the regular contribution of time, ability and resources.
live in all holiness, godliness, humility and brotherly love in order to be pleasing and honouring to God; to protect the reputation of other Christians as God enables, encouraging love and good works, supporting and having sympathy for each other in all circumstances.
give faithful testimony to the world both by example and by speech so that unbelievers might be presented with the truth of the gospel and thereby the cause of Christ be advanced.
pray for the needs of others and for the growth and testimony of this Church; to desire God's presence in the Church, Christ's protection over it and the Holy Spirit's power upon it.
respect and follow the leadership God has given this Church and to recognise the spiritual gifts God has given to each other for the work of the ministry and edification of the body of Christ, thus endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Becoming a member of BEChurch

Please contact one of the elders if you would like to talk about becoming a member of BEChurch. We'd love to chat with you about any questions you have. It would also be good if we could speak with the pastor or elder at a church you have come to us from.

Moving away & transferring membership

We encourage you to "transfer" your membership to another likeminded church should you move to another location where it becomes impractical to travel and meet regularly with us in Buckingham. Again, please speak with one of the elders about this. We'd be delighted to speak with and write a letter of commendation to the pastor or elders of the church you are moving to as they accept you into membership there. This is just another way we show our love to you as we oversee your ongoing spiritual care.