If you would like to become a member of St. Columba’s Church we would be delighted to hear from you. Membership of the church is available to those who have received Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.
Before becoming a member of our church, we would usually need to speak to you, and you would be required, in normal circumstances, to attend a new member’s course. New member’s courses last 7 weeks and each class takes place immediately following the morning service.
Why should you become a member of the church? Isn’t it good enough just to attend and get involved in the life of the congregation?
People ask these questions from time to time. Our answer is that there are a number of very good reasons why you should take the formal step of becoming a church member. All new members ‘profess faith’ when they ‘join’ the church, or become members. This takes place in a service, usually on a Sunday morning. It is always a good thing for people to join the church by declaring their love and loyalty to Jesus Christ in front of others, in this case, in front of the morning congregation. Here are some of those reasons:
- Professing faith strengthens personal devotion.
- It provides an opportunity to witness to uncommitted friends and family members in the congregation
- It marks you out publicly as a believer
- Professing faith gives a public demonstration of your commitment to the congregation
- It allows a believer to get involved to the very fullest extent in the life of the church. Non-members are restricted in the degree to which they can serve. For instance, you cannot be an office-bearer unless you are a church member.
- Becoming a member allows the Church of Scotland a benchmark by which it can roughly assess its spiritual and numerical health. This is important in planning church growth strategies.
- Professing faith is a significant spiritual encouragement and joy to those who have already become church members. The arrival of reinforcements is a great morale-booster.
