VIEW FROM THE MANSE 2.0 - April 2025

 

Recently, on a Saturday morning, APC hosted a new members’ class. This class has taken different forms in recent years. It was once offered on 6 consecutive Sundays during the Sunday school hour (and we may go back to doing that in the future). But, more recently, we have been taking a Saturday morning to cover all that material in a single day. It sounds daunting, but we take breaks and conclude with lunch from the Argyle Variety. I enjoy teaching this class immensely and I am usually assisted by a ruling elder (this past time I was assisted by Wes Clark).

          The class is structured around the membership questions. There are 5 of them and they can be grouped into 3 categories; what does it mean to be a Christian, how do we live as Christians, and what is the Evangelical Presbyterian denomination of which APC is a part? Here are the membership questions:

1.  Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God and without hope for your salvation except in his sovereign mercy?

2.  Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior of sinners and do you receive and depend upon him alone for your salvation as offered in the Gospel?

3.  Do you now promise and resolve, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?

4.  Do you promise to serve Christ in the church by supporting and participating in its service to God and its ministry to others to the best of your ability?

5.  Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the EPC and to the spiritual oversight of this church session, and do you promise to promote the unity, purity and peace of the Church?

          If you have joined our church since we became a part of the EPC, you have been asked these questions. To help everyone understand what they are being asked with each question, we look at scripture, we read supplemental material, and we watch some videos.

          In order to join APC, you do not need to be raised Presbyterian (many of our members grew up in Catholic, Episcopalian, Baptist, or other churches) and you do not need to agree with the Westminster Confession of Faith. You need to be able to tell others what Jesus means to you today; you need to either have been baptized in the name of the triune God or you need to be willing to be baptized; and you need to be able to affirm the essentials of the faith of the EPC (these can be found at EPC.org).

          Some who take this class decide to wait to join the church and that is fine with me. I am glad that they took time to talk about Jesus and our church and I am glad for the opportunity to get to know them better. If you want to participate in our next membership class, please email me or the office.

          If you have already joined our church, it is good to look at these vows that you made again and remember in what ways you have committed yourself to Jesus and your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Bryan Fitzgerald, Pastor (bryan@argylepresbyterian.org)

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