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Membership
Home->Worship ->Rites of Passage -> Membership

Life as a Christian community is grounded in God’s covenantal love. The God we meet in Jesus Christ promises faithfulness. In response a people is called out of the world who live from promises of faithfulness made to God and one another. At baptism we place our trust in the Triune God and state our desire to live as a disciple of Jesus in the community of the church in service to God’s mission in the world. In this way we become members of the body of Christ and members of the church universal through membership in a local embodiment of the church. After baptism we may find other occasions to renew the vows made at the font. This may occur in adolescence or adulthood as a confirmation of vows made on our behalf in infancy. It may also occur, from time to time, after a period of inactivity in the church or as we move from the life of one congregation to another. In every case, baptism and the renewal of baptismal vows joins us as members of a community of fellow disciples who are committed to supporting one another in faithfulness to our common promises with God in Jesus Christ.

The Session intends that the congregation’s Membership Roll is an accurate list of those whose baptismal promises are currently being lived out within the life of University Hill Congregation. If we refrain from participating in the life of the congregation we are choosing to withdraw from our covenantal promises and, by doing so, to remove ourselves from membership in the congregation. At such times the Session intends to take care that members are given every opportunity to state their desire and intention to remain active in the life of the congregation before acting to remove a person from the congregation’s Membership Roll.

Membership
While those who are baptised in infancy or childhood are members of the Body of Christ the Membership Roll records members with voting privileges in the congregation. Members on the Roll are those who have publicly expressed their desire to join University Hill Congregation and who have done so by:

Adult baptism after appropriate preparation (minimum age - thirteen), on recommendation of a member of University Hill Congregation and by action of the Session.

Renewal of baptismal faith after appropriate preparation for those who have been baptised as an infant or child and wish to confirm their vows (minimum age - thirteen) on recommendation of a member of University Hill Congregation and by action of the Session.

Renewal of baptismal faith for those from another congregation of the ecumenical Christian
church who have been baptised and who wish to join this congregation without a certificate
of transfer, as recommended by the Session.

Transfer of an active membership for those with a certificate of transfer from another congregation of the ecumenical Christian church, as recommended by the Session

 

 

 

 

 

Non-residents
Members who move away from the congregation on a temporary basis (such as students who are away studying) will be maintained on the Roll as Non-resident members.

Removal from the Membership Roll
Removal from the Membership Roll will occur when a member is not active in the congregation’s life for a period of three years, and following contact by mail (as well as by phone or in person if possible) to determine if they wish to maintain an active membership in the congregation. If the response is negative, or if there is no reply, the member will be removed from the roll by the Session. Activity in the congregation will be noted annually (normally in June) by a task group made up of congregational leaders (leadership team, envelope secretaries, Sunday school co-ordinators, etc).

No names are to be removed at any time from the congregation’s Historic Roll which records those who have, at one time, been active members in the congregation.