Membership Process

Stony Fork Community Church is a Southern Baptist Church, which means we 1) hold to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and 2) cooperate with other Southern Baptist churches through the Southern Baptist Convention and our local Associations, mainly for the purpose of missions. As a Southern Baptist Church, we are an autonomous local church which means we are not governed by any other governing body (e.g. Southern Baptist Convention, York County Baptist Association).

What is the Church?

The Church is all believers of all time in all places who have been set apart by God, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, called and kept by the Holy Spirit.

The invisible, universal church is made visible in the local church, who…

1) Regularly gathers (Hebrews 10:24-25)
2) Sits under the preaching of the Word (Acts 2:42)
3) Affirms one another’s profession of faith through the ordinances (Matthew 16:15-19; Matthew 18:15-20)
4) Disciples one another (Matthew 28:20)
5) Is led by a plurality of elders and served by deacons (Hebrews 13:17)

What is Church Membership?

Church membership is the commitment between a Christian and a local church in which the church affirms the believer’s profession of faith and promises to oversee the believer’s discipleship, while the Christian promises to gather with and submit to the church.

What is our Membership Process?

1) Membership Interview - each prospective member is interviewed by an elder(s) in order to hear about his/her background and testimony, and to inform the candidate about the beliefs and practices of Stony Fork Community Church.

2) Presented to the church for the church to affirm

*We will periodically have a Membership Class to teach on these matters. Prospective members are not required to attend the class before the membership process, but will be encouraged to attend as soon as possible.