Become a Member

What is Membership?

Membership is quite simple; committing to be a Christian and be held accountable by a church as you pursue God and His glory. A member commits to people, prays for people and pursues a relationship with God in the context of people. Moreover, a member at the Branch gets to vote on important things in the life of the church, attend Community Forums, and give voice to various ministries, direction, and overall life of the church. A member can lead ministries such as a Community Group or become a Deacon, Intern, and staff. They can go on mission trips and create ministries that would be supported by the church.

Why Membership?

Hebrews 13:17 suggests that pastors have to give an account for people, while people need to submit to a local leadership (pastor). This leads to the logical question: Who are these people? Specifically, do pastors need to give an account for everyone and should Christians submit to any leadership? The answer is that pastors are accountable for their sheep (members) and people (members) are to submit to their leader (pastors). Membership is assumed in the structure and logic of Hebrews 13.

  • 1 Cor. 12:24: Members commit to one another

  • 1 Tim. 5:17:We are commanded to submit to an elder

  • 1 Peter 5:1-5: The Bible commands that elders care for certain people

  • Acts 6:1-16: Elections take place to care for certain issues

  • Romans 16:1-16: We see what appears to be an awareness of who is a church member

  • We see a clear teaching on how to handle widows in the church

Membership Process

Here is the process for membership at the Branch:

  • Attend Branch Class

  • Have a membership conversation with an elder

  • Be recognized as a member at the subsequent Community Forum (held twice a year).

 

Have a question about membership?

Please contact our lead pastor Doug Payne doug@thebranchcorvallis.org