Membership at SCAPC
Visiting St. Charles? Welcome!
We invite you to fill out our Visitor Form.
Why become a member?
Membership provides the opportunity to learn more about God, to wrestle with and clarify what you believe and to participate fully in the decisions made by the congregation. Becoming a member affirms your commitment to God and to the community of God’s people. It is also a commitment to a particular part of God’s family that nurtures and invests in your growing faith.
Do I need to be baptized in order to join the church?
Yes. Your baptism could have taken place when you were an infant, child or adult; it could have taken place at a non-Presbyterian church. If you haven’t been baptized, you will need to be baptized to be a member. Contact the church office or let one of the pastors know that you need to be baptized, and we can easily arrange for it.
How do I join?
What happens after I join?
The best way to learn about SCAPC membership is to come to the library following 10:30 a.m. worship. Representatives of the Membership Committee, and the pastors are available to answer questions about our church. If you are thinking about getting more involved or wondering how to get more connected to this family of faith, stop by and chat. Inviting you into membership is a simple process that will take about 10 minutes.
After you join, you will be invited to a new member orientation, held quarterly during the year. You, along with other new members, will have the opportunity to ask questions, talk with church members about your interests and learn more about where you might want to get involved.
(1) WORSHIP
Worship is at the heart of this community: Find a way to worship regularly. It is the most important thing we do in the life of the church where we have the opportunity, on a regular basis, to open the alabaster jar of praise until the scent wafts up to heaven. Even when you are not here, find a way to worship; find a place to worship.
(2) GET INVOLVED
90% of life is showing up. Take advantage of the opportunities to serve and participate in the life of this church…find ways in our life together in which you can inhale the love of God and find ways where you can exhale the love of God. Find a way to be enriched and filled and a way to give and serve others.
(3) SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION
Get involved in the spiritual formation and educational life of this congregation. Whether that be on Wednesday Nights or Sunday mornings or through Young Adults and Families or other church small groups. Presbyterians love to learn and that should be happening in a myriad of ways here…theologian John Leith once said, ‘next to a life of love, the human mind in the service of God is the most wonderful thing in the world.’
(4) GIVE GENEROUSLY
Give generously with your time and your energy and your participation, and your money. Faithful stewardship is about more than money, but it never means less than money.
(5) BE EVANGELISTS.
The gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be contained or kept privately. Live your faith and where appropriate, speak it too. Invite others to become a part of the life we share here. New members are our best evangelists. How do people start attending a church? Advertising: 2%, Pastor Invite: 6%; Organized Visitation: 6% A Friend Invited Me: 86%
May I participate in church life without becoming a member?
Absolutely! We hope that those who are not members feel welcome at our worship services, Sunday School, adult study groups, women’s circles, service days, dinners and everything we do as a church.
Membership is an opportunity to openly proclaim one’s faith in Jesus Christ, one’s sense of call to this community of faith, and one’s willingness to participate in the official life of the church, such as congregational meetings and session. But the decision to join the church should not be made with undue haste or a sense of obligation.
