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QUALIFICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP
At any church service or meeting, membership shall be extended to all who have had and whose lives evidence a genuine experience of regeneration through faith in and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior. Who fully subscribe to the Statement of Faith contained herein; and who enter into the church covenant contained herein; and upon compliance with any one of the following conditions:
By baptism (immersion) in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28:19) by the authority of Patuxent Baptist Church or another Baptist church of like faith and doctrine.
By letter of transfer from another Baptist Bible-believing church of like faith and practice, or other written statement of good standing from the prior church if the applicant has been baptized by immersion subsequent to profession of faith.
By statement of faith, testifying that the one desiring to join has been saved by Jesus Christ, and scripturally baptized in a Baptist church since salvation and is a member of good standing, yet due to circumstances, transfer of membership from another church is not readily feasible. (Amos 3:3; Matt. 12:25; Eph. 5:11; II Cor. 6:14-18)
By restoration, for one having been removed from membership by majority vote of the congregation after confession is made publicly before the church membership of the sin or sins involved, and repentance is satisfactorily evidenced to the Pastor.
DUTIES OF A MEMBER
On becoming a member of this church, in addition to the covenant contained in Article II, Section 2, each one further covenants to love and esteem the Pastor, to pray for him, to recognize his authority in spiritual affairs of the church; to cherish a brotherly love for all members of the church; to support the church in prayer, tithes, offerings and with other financial support as the Lord enables in accordance with Biblical commands to support through a lifestyle walk affirmation of the beliefs and practices of the Church.
PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERSHIP
This congregation functions, not as a pure democracy, but as a body under the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ and the direction of the Pastor as the Under Shepherd with counsel of the men in the church until the establishment of deacons, is made by the Pastor, as he sees their need. Membership in this church does not afford those individuals with any property, contract, or civil rights based on principles of democratic government. Determination of the internal affairs of this Church is ecclesiastical matters and shall be determined exclusively by this church's own rules and procedures. The Pastor shall oversee and/or conduct all aspects of this church. The men of the church until the establishment of deacons shall give counsel and assistance to the Pastor as requested by him. Membership in this church is required to serve in any leadership position, teaching position, or ministry of any capacity in the Patuxent Baptist Church; those that serve must be an active member. Only active members may vote in the church (See Article III, Section 6, and Para. D). The membership of the church has certain limited areas of exercising a vote. Members may not vote to initiate any church action, but rather the vote as a member is to confirm and ratify the direction of the church as determined by the Pastor. Each member of the church, except inactive members, shall be entitled to vote on all matters. Voting pertaining to the disciplining of members, the purchase or sale of real property and the dismissal or calling of a Pastor, in which matters, only members at least eighteen years of age shall be entitled to vote.
DISCIPLINE OF A MEMBER
Our Lord states that it is the church's duty to exercise discipline, to include, excluding from its fellowship any member whom persists in sin and disobedience. His command to exercise discipline in the church is as definite as His command to baptize and commemorate His death by the Lord's Supper. It should be remembered that the main reason for church discipline is to stop the further discredit to our Lord and to His Church and to bring the sinning member into proper fellowship with the Lord as soon as possible. The disciplining, when required by the Scriptures, of members of the church is necessary for the spiritual health and strength of the body. It is indispensable to building truly Christian, spiritual, victorious congregations. To surrender this privilege means weakness, fear and defeat; sin and worldliness will slip in and take over. Love and joy will fade. The Holy Spirit will be grieved and quenched.
A member who falls in sin should be dealt with according to the principles and procedure given in the Scriptures. Proper Scriptural procedure and prayer always play an important part in disciplining. Discipline in this church will be set as follows:
There shall be a Discipline Committee consisting of the Pastor and those men chosen by him. These men shall have sole authority in determining heretical deviations from the Statement of Faith and violations of the Church Covenant. If the Pastor is the subject of a disciplinary matter, he shall not sit as a member of the Discipline Committee. He shall be entitled to the same steps as other church members and subject to the same discipline.
Members are expected to demonstrate special loyalty and concern for one another. When a member becomes aware of an offense of such magnitudes that it hinders spiritual growth and testimony, he is to go alone to the offending party and seek to restore his brother. Before he goes, he should first examine himself. When he goes, he should go with a spirit of humility and have the goal of restoration.
If reconciliation is not reached, a second member, either an elder man of the church or the Pastor is to accompany the one seeking to resolve the matter. This second step should also be preceded by self-examination and exercised in a spirit of humility with the goal of restoration.
If the matter is still unresolved after the steps outlined in subsections (B) and (C) have been taken, the Discipline Committee, as the church representatives biblically responsible for putting down murmuring, shall hear the matter. If the matter is not resolved during the hearing before the Discipline Committee, the Committee shall recommend to the members of the church that they, after self-examination, make an effort personally to go to the offending member and seek that member's restoration.
If the matter is still unresolved after the steps outline in subsections (B), (C) and (D) have been taken, such members who refuse to repent and be restored are to be removed from the membership of the Church. This is done by a majority vote of the membership present at a meeting called for the purpose of considering disciplinary action.
The Discipline Committee or the church may hear no matter unless the steps outlined in subsection (B) and (C) have been taken, except in the case of a public offense.
If an unrepented offending party is removed from the Church membership, all contact with him/her, except family members, from that point forward must be for the sake of restoration.
TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP
Members, not under the disciplining process of Section 4, may request that letters of transfer be sent to another church.
TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP
The membership of any individual member shall be automatically terminated without notice if the member in question has not attended a regular worship service of the church in the preceding three months. Upon good cause being shown to the Pastor, (such as TAD, TDY duty not to include PCS moves, sickness, out of state business, or missionary furlough) this provision for termination may be waived in the case of any individual member at the discretion of the Pastor.
No member of this church may hold membership in another church. If any member unites in membership with another church, that person is automatically terminated without notice from membership in this church.
A member under punishment of the discipline of the church may be returned to fellowship only when he repents and gives evidence of repentance and humility.
Any member who has not been attending 2/3 of meetings for one month is an inactive member. Except for initial membership, a whole month of 2/3 of the meetings is necessary to become active again, subject to approval of the Pastor. Exceptions to this are for being providentially hindered, military duty, or absence from the state of Maryland. Inactive members may not vote.