Membership in a local community of Christians is a wonderful privilege.  It allows you a local part of the body of Christ in which you can be committed to.  It also gives you a place of service and training to help you in your spiritual journey.  

We have two basic forms of membership.  When a person first comes into our church or more importantly becomes a part of Christ body by accepting Him as Lord and Savior we welcome those people into Community Membership within our church. The only requirements of community membership is that 1) You are a Christian (you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of your life) 2) You have been baptized as a new believer which is your mark of being a Christian, and 3) You are interested in becoming more committed to our church.  To become a community member you simply enroll and take our "Getting To Know Us Class."  This information 3 hour session helps you get to know who we are and where we are going as a church.  We also spend some time understanding and laying the ground work for commitment to our local body.  Our Community membership status is good for one year and we look at it as a "engagement" period for new members.  At this stage you are committed to the church but learning more about our heart.

The second form of membership is our Covenant Members.  These individuals have entered into a covenant with the church agreeing that they will support, and adhere to the doctrines and theologies of the church as given in our Denomination Handbook (or Discipline).  As a Covenant member you enjoy all the privileges of full membership within the church (including the right to vote, teach, and freely use our facilities).   As with anything in life, with added privilege also comes added responsibility.  It is at this level that we expect the individual to uphold the church in all matters of life.  We expect that the individual will support the church with their attendance, with their prayers, with their attitude (or words), and with their income.  It is at this stage that we trust the individual to have a committed and growing relationship with Christ and they will begin the exciting endeavors of personally engaging in ministry inside and outside the church.  It is at this Covenant Membership level that one is very committed to giving back to the world through the church.

If you have any further questions about membership in our church you are welcome to send Pastor John Baker and e-mail (pastorjohn@oakdalechurch.org) or give him a call at (651)739-2940.