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Joining Cannon Church
Cannon Church gladly
welcomes new members into the life and fellowship of the
congregation. There are few pre requisites to membership because we
believe that Jesus offers grace to one and all. We model an inviting
grace by opening the doors of the church to all who would answer the
call to follow Jesus. This does not mean that we have low
expectations of our members. Jesus teaches that the cost of
discipleship is high, and we encourage people to grow in their faith
through worship, personal piety and Christian service. One step in
our faith journey is to commit ourselves to service in a local
church like Cannon.
Unless you are being baptized, you are not required to meet with a
pastor before joining. During any Sunday morning worship service,
you may simply write the names of all family members on a bulletin
tear-off sheet or other piece of paper, come forward, introduce
yourself to our pastors and ask to join the church.
There are
several ways people join Cannon United Methodist Church:
BAPTISM AND
PROFESSION OF FAITH
Persons who have not
been baptized can meet with one of our pastors to learn about
baptism and to make their profession of faith. After that meeting,
you may schedule a Sunday morning worship service for your baptism.
In that service you will be asked these basic questions of faith:
Do you truly and earnestly repent of your sin?
Do you believe in
God the Father, Creator of the world;
and in Jesus Christ his only son and profess him as Lord of your
life,
and in the Holy Spirit, our comforter and sustainer in living?
Do you receive and profess the Christian faith as contained in the
scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the sufficient rule both
of faith and of practice and promise to walk in the same all the
days of our lives as faithful members of Christ's church?
Upon this basic profession of faith, you will be baptized into the
Church of Jesus Christ. You will then be asked if you will promise
to uphold Cannon Church with your prayers, presence, gifts, and
service. With your positive affirmation, you will be received into
the membership of Cannon United Methodist Church.
REAFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Many people have been
previously baptized but have not been actively living their faith in
a local church for more than two years. These people may join Cannon
Church on reaffirmation of faith. Pastors are available to meet with
you, but you are not required to meet with a pastor before joining
on reaffirmation of faith. Cannon Church will not re baptize persons
who have been previously baptized, because God, not us, is the
primary actor in baptism. During a Sunday morning worship service,
persons reaffirming their faith will be asked the following basic
questions of Christian faith.
Do you truly and earnestly repent of your sin?
Do you believe in
God the Father, Creator of the world;
and in Jesus Christ his only son and profess him as Lord of your
life,
and in the Holy Spirit, our comforter and sustainer in living?
Do you receive and profess the Christian faith as contained in the
scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the sufficient rule both
of faith and of practice and promise to walk in the same all the
days of our lives as faithful members of Christ's church?
Upon this basic profession of faith you will then be asked if you
will promise to uphold Cannon Church with your prayers, presence,
gifts and service. With your positive affirmation, you will be
received into the membership of Cannon United Methodist Church.
TRANSFER OF
MEMBERSHIP FROM ANOTHER CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Cannon accepts members
on transfer of membership from all other Christian denominations. We
affirm that the same Holy Spirit present at a baptism in the United
Methodist Church is present at baptism in other Christian churches.
Therefore, we do not re baptize Christians. Persons who are coming
from active membership in another Christian Church may join Cannon
by Transfer of Membership by publicly promising to uphold Cannon
Church with prayers, presence, gifts and service.
EXPECTATIONS
OF MEMBERS
Members of Cannon are expected to live their faith by upholding
their vows to support the church with prayers, presence, gifts, and
service.
PRAYERS
- Faith is a relationship with God centered in Jesus Christ. We grow
in our relationship with God as we talk to God through prayer.
Members are expected to spend time in personal prayer at home in
addition to the prayer time at worship.
PRESENCE
- Members are expected to regularly attend worship, study, and
service events. When we commit ourselves to membership in a church,
we commit ourselves to being an active part of the ministry of the
church. We encourage members to attend worship weekly and commit to
one other avenue of spiritual growth, such as a Bible Study or
prayer group.
GIFTS
- Members of Cannon are expected to give regularly to the church. We
give to God through the church as we live out our gratitude for all
God has done for us and our trust that God will provide for our
needs. Cannon lifts up the tithe, the first 10% of our income, as
the biblical standard of giving. The expectation for all of us is
that we be tithers or actively moving tithing by giving a growing
percentage of our income to God’s work in the world.
SERVICE
- Members of Cannon commit to loving God and serving neighbor. We
serve neighbor by teaching in Sunday School, participating in
Christian service projects, serving in ministries in the church, and
participating in overseas mission. Although no one person will serve
in all areas of ministry, we do ask that all members serve in at
least one area of ministry.
We compare meaningful membership in the church to breathing! It is
important to breathe in and breathe out. We encourage members to
balance their participation in the church by breathing in worship,
study, prayer, and small groups and breathing out through service as
teachers, musicians, missions, and other ministry.
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