Joining Mount Pleasant
After accepting Christ as your savior the Bible tells us to associate ourselves with a local New Testament church (Hebrews 10:24-25). Mount Pleasant is a local assembly of baptized believers who have joined together to carry out Christ's work on earth. When one becomes a church member he is making a covenant with the other members of the church and Jesus to do his best with God's help to live a Christian life and to cooperate with them to do the church's work.
We invite you to become a member of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and share in the blessings of being a part of a loving and caring fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ. At the end of a congregational worship service, the pastor or minister extends an invitation to those without a church home to join in fellowship with the church. A request is made for you to contact the pastor by telephone or in person or at the end of service to discuss their spiritual needs.
When you meet with the pastor, he will give you an opportunity to clarify your decision and answer any questions you might have concerning the church. He will discuss your spiritual needs, hear your confession of faith and pray with you on becoming a candidate for membership.
There Are Three Ways To Be Accepted
First, you may unite by profession of faith and become a candidate for baptism. This means that you have confessed your belief and trust in Jesus as Savior and is now declaring yourself openly as a believer. Baptism is by immersion in water. It symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It is also an outward show of an inner conviction; a pictorial testimony of what has already taken place in the Christian life—death to the old life, it’s burial, and resurrection, to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Church members vote to receive you for membership as a candidate for baptism. After your baptism and the completion of New Members Orientation class, you become a member of the church.
Second, you may unite "by letter." This means that you are already a member of another Baptist church of like faith and order and would like to transfer your membership. You present or request a letter of introduction from your former church. Church members vote to receive you for membership by letter. You are not actually a member of the church until the letter is received. However, you are accepted as a person under the "watch care" of the church until the letter of introduction is received. Watch care means that you are considered a part of the church fellowship and has limited privileges and responsibilities given to a church member. After receipt of the letter of recommendation and the completion of New Members Orientation class, you become a full member of the church.
Third, you may unite based on your statement of Christian experience. This means that you were once baptized as a Baptist but now is not a part of another Baptist church fellowship. There are many reasons why this might have occurred; change of location is one. In any event, you have been away from the church for some period of time and would like to return. When this is the situation, you should let the pastor know that you are coming on your statement of Christian experience. After the church members vote to accept you by statement of Christian experience and the completion of New Members Orientation class, you become a member of the church.
Each of these three methods are confirmed and affirmed on the first Sunday after meeting all requirements through receiving “The Right Hand of Fellowship” from church members.
If you have been visiting the church and are moved to join but would like to discuss your spiritual needs with someone, ask the pastor to counsel with you privately. He is ready to talk with you and to help you understand how you may unite with the church.
