We are very excited that you will be officially joining Saint Paul's UMC!
On this form you are asked to share basic contact information, demographic information that we use for reporting purposes, and information about whether you are baptized and your previous church. If you don't know the exact date of baptism it is OK to estimate. Previous church information is only needed if you are transferring your membership.
There is a technical question about how you will be joining. We have some specific statistics that we have to fill out annually, and this goes into your membership record just for those purposes, but it can be confusing. The options are:
1. Profession of Faith - if this is your first time professing your faith in Jesus Christ, this is what you would mark; usually accompanied by baptism, confirmation, or perhaps if you were baptized as a child but never attended church as an adult.
2. Transfer from another UMC - if you have an active membership in a different UMC and you are transferring your membership here, this is what you would mark.
3. Transfer from other denomination - if you have an active membership at a church that is not UMC and you are transferring your membership here, this is what you mark.
4. Reaffirmation of Faith - if you have been baptized before, and have professed faith in Jesus before, but you aren't currently a member of another church (perhaps you stopped attending for a while, or have recently recommitted yourself, or were attending a different church but had never joined there) then this is what you would mark.
For all these options you will be considered a "Professing Member" at Saint Paul's after joining during worship. The only way we remove you from membership is at your request, or... if we have been unable to reach you, you haven't been here, and we publish your name for three consecutive years on our removal list at our annual business meeting called our "charge conference."
If you have children, they will be joining as "baptized members" if they have already been baptized, or they will be considered "constituents" if they have not yet been baptized. Baptized members and constituents do not have voting rights. Once children are 12 years old and have gone through confirmation, they may join as professing members. Once they are 18, they can join without going through confirmation classes (but would still need to come to a Starting Point class).
You will receive a confirmation email with these details. Let me know if you have any questions.
Description
We are very excited that you will be officially joining Saint Paul's UMC!
On this form you are asked to share basic contact information, demographic information that we use for reporting purposes, and information about whether you are baptized and your previous church. If you don't know the exact date of baptism it is OK to estimate. Previous church information is only needed if you are transferring your membership.
There is a technical question about how you will be joining. We have some specific statistics that we have to fill out annually, and this goes into your membership record just for those purposes, but it can be confusing. The options are:
1. Profession of Faith - if this is your first time professing your faith in Jesus Christ, this is what you would mark; usually accompanied by baptism, confirmation, or perhaps if you were baptized as a child but never attended church as an adult.
2. Transfer from another UMC - if you have an active membership in a different UMC and you are transferring your membership here, this is what you would mark.
3. Transfer from other denomination - if you have an active membership at a church that is not UMC and you are transferring your membership here, this is what you mark.
4. Reaffirmation of Faith - if you have been baptized before, and have professed faith in Jesus before, but you aren't currently a member of another church (perhaps you stopped attending for a while, or have recently recommitted yourself, or were attending a different church but had never joined there) then this is what you would mark.
For all these options you will be considered a "Professing Member" at Saint Paul's after joining during worship. The only way we remove you from membership is at your request, or... if we have been unable to reach you, you haven't been here, and we publish your name for three consecutive years on our removal list at our annual business meeting called our "charge conference."
If you have children, they will be joining as "baptized members" if they have already been baptized, or they will be considered "constituents" if they have not yet been baptized. Baptized members and constituents do not have voting rights. Once children are 12 years old and have gone through confirmation, they may join as professing members. Once they are 18, they can join without going through confirmation classes (but would still need to come to a Starting Point class).
You will receive a confirmation email with these details. Let me know if you have any questions.