Membership

 

Membership of HBC is open to all Christians who can agree with our statement of beliefs and will not seek to undermine our Baptist identity.

We believe we are called to work together to worship God, to extend the Kingdom of God further into our own lives, and into the lives of those around us by our witness as a community and by our actions and our words.

We believe each person is unique yet created in God's image. This uniqueness means that each person will have a set of gifts and talents to contribute to the work of building up the church.

We have an 'open membership', so we do not insist that you have been baptised as a believer in order to become part of the membership. However, we do ask that you will not detract from our teaching on baptism if you have a different personal conviction on this matter.

We operate an 'open communion table', so we do not disbar those who are not members of our church or members of other churches or those not baptised as believers from our communion table. We simply ask that you hold the faith and a good conscience as you come to the table.

We believe in the 'priesthood of all believers'. Each person is responsible for their own soul, their own calling and their own decisions before God. This also means that each Christian has direct access to God and can act as a go-between for others with God. We do appoint a pastor to work full time for God in the church, and while this person is trained in theology, he or she has no 'special powers' or authority due to his/her position alone.

As a result of the priesthood of all believers we believe in the autonomy of the local church. It is our duty as members of the church to follow God's Spirit in the leadership, direction, purposes and witness of the church. The forum for the discussion of such matters is in the regular meeting of church members.

We believe the Bible is the final written authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

If you would like to join us in our witness and worship as a member please speak to one of the leadership team.

 

Responsibilities of church members

  1. To live a life consistent with the Gospel and worthy of our high calling in Christ.
  2. To spend some time each day in prayer and reading the Scriptures.
  3. To share each Lord’s Day, unless unavoidably prevented, in the corporate worship of the Church, and to be faithful and regular in the observance of the Lord’s Supper.
  4. To fulfil the ministry of intercession both privately and by being present whenever possible, at meetings for corporate prayer.
  5. To live in loyal love and fellowship with all the other members of the Church.   
  6. To take some part in the work of the Church according to our calling, gifts and opportunities.
  7. To accept personal responsibility for the government of the local Church by being present, whenever possible, at the Church Meeting.
  8. To set aside and give a sum of money every Lord‘s Day for the work of God’s Kingdom at home and overseas.
  9. To attempt by personal invitation, hospitality and visitation to introduce and bring others to the Church.
  10. To witness to the Lord Jesus Christ by word and deed, and to take part in the evangelisation of the world.

Details of membership are available from the Administrator.