Oaklawn Baptist Church

How To Join

Our Constitution and Bylaws state:

Any person may offer oneself as a candidate for membership in this church. All such candidates shall be presented to the church at any
regular church service for membership in any of the following ways:

A. By profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for baptism according to the policies of this church;
B. By promise of a letter from another Baptist church of like faith and order. If such a letter cannot be secured within ninety days,
    the clerk shall automatically record such member as “received on statement of faith”;
C. By statement of a conversion experience and baptism by immersion when no letter is obtainable;
D. By watchcare: a person living in the area for an interim period who wishes to formally participate in the fellowship and worship of
    this church may be accepted under watchcare of this church. The right to vote or hold office in the church is not present under watchcare.

Candidates for membership will be voted into watchcare at the time of their presentation to the church during a regular worship service.
A vote for membership shall take place at the next regular business meeting following the candidate’s A) baptism, receipt of letter, or
statement of faith, and B) successful completion of a Membership class. Should there be any dissent to any candidate, such dissent shall
be referred to the pastor and the Deacons for investigation and the making of a recommendation to the church during a regular business
meeting within thirty (30) days. A three-fourths (3/4) vote of those members present and voting shall be required to elect such
candidates to membership.

Section 3 – RIGHTS OF MEMBERS.

A. Minimum voting age for members is set at 18 years of age.
B. Every member of voting age present during church business meetings is entitled to vote at all elections and on all questions submitted
    to the church.
C. Members of the church of voting age are eligible for elective office.
D. Members of the church who are of voting age are eligible to serve on church committees. However, to ensure that all members have an
    opportunity to serve in the church, members are limited as to how many committees on which they may serve concurrently.

Any member may serve on

A) two operations, and either one service or one standing committee or
B) one operations, two service and one standing committee. (Article VII, Section 2 defines Committees)

Section 4 – RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERS

Members of this church are expected to demonstrate commitment to the Lord and the church through regular participation in the basic
church functions of worship, discipleship, evangelism, fellowship, missions and support through a practice of biblical tithing and giving of
special offerings.

So What Does all of that mean?

How do I become part of this family?

1. You must believe Christ and accept him as Lord and Savior. It is the first requirement of any Christian relationship. This family
    requires it to begin with.
2. You must be scripturally baptized.
    a. This is illustrated by Christ in Luke 3:22
    21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
    22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You
    I am well pleased."
b. This is also illustrated by the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:38,39
    38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
    39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

This is summed up by saying that a person must be put under the water during the baptismal process.

A person can join by accepting Christ and being scripturally baptized.

A person can also join this family by giving a letter from a church of like faith and belief. For us, this means another Baptist Church.

A person can join by statement of faith and baptism when a letter from another church is not available.

This happens when a person comes forward at the end of the service and tells the Pastor that they have accepted Christ and have been baptized the
way this church baptizes, but they do not know how to receive their letter from a previous Baptist church.

A person can also join by watchcare.

This is a person who may be in the area for a short period of time, such as a student, military personnel, or perhaps a short-term business assignment.

When a person is ready to join the church they come to the front of the sanctuary at the end of a worship service when the Pastor gives an invitation.
A person will tell the pastor what their desire is at that time. The Pastor will then share this good news with the congregation.

The second step toward joining the church is to attend the Oaklawn Membership class.
This class is held every other month. It takes place following a morning service. Lunch is served to everyone who attends and the class lasts for
approximately 1 and ½ hours. At the end of the class we ask those who desire to join the church sign the Oaklawn Covenant: