You don’t have to be a member to come and share in our services! Some do choose to formally join the church. For those looking to join the church we run a short (a couple of evenings) familiarisation course that explains what join the church means. At the end of the session those attending can then indicate whether they wish to proceed to joining, and this is done by “profession of faith” during a service. During this each person joining is asked to affirm their faith by answering the following questions:
Do you reject sin, confess your need of God’s forgiving grace, and pledge yourself to glorify God and to love your neighbour?
Do you believe the Christian faith into which we are baptized?
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, and the continuing work of our salvation?
Do you, believing in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and confessing Jesus Christ, as your Saviour and Lord, Do you promise to join regularly with your fellow Christians in worship on the Lord’s Day?
Do you promise to be faithful in reading the Bible, and in prayer?
Do you promise to give a fitting proportion of your time, talents, and money for the Church’s work in the world?
Do you promise, depending on the grace of God, to profess publicly your loyalty to Jesus Christ, to serve him in your daily work, and to walk in his ways all the days of your life?
Membership grants voting rights when it comes to the annual meeting of the church and automatically receiving the newsletter etc. At the moment membership groups are started when we have a couple of people looking to join.
The other avenue of joining the church is where you are a member of another Church of Scotland congregation somewhere else, you can request a “certificate of transference” and internal transfer mechanism allows people to simple by added to be roll of members.
Other than formally joining the church you can become an adherent. This is where someone regularly joins in the activities of the church and seeks a closer church connection. The Kirk Session approves any request from someone seeking to become an adherent and they, if accepted, are put on the mailing lists, and the like.