What Is Covenant Membership?
Covenant membership is our way of encouraging this commitment and pursuing that greater blessing and joy in God together. We define covenant membership as follows . . .
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Taking the Class Mean I'm Committing to Be a Covenant Member?
No! Taking the class is simply a way to learn about covenant membership at Mercy Hill and help you along as you prayerfully consider your place in this church.
What Are Some of the Benefits of Becoming a Covenant Member?
Apart from those benefits laid out in Expansion 1: The Five Aspects of Church Membership, we can identify at least a couple more:
1. Judicial Privilege: Our covenant members are those who will be given the privilege of voting on critical matters concerning our church body. According to the Scriptures these matters include:
2. Leadership Opportunity: While there are many roles that a non-member/regular attender can fill in the church, we reserve certain positions for those who have already formally covenanted themselves into the membership of this local body. In particular, we require that any who would be a formal officer at Mercy Hill Church (i.e. an elder or deacon), first go through our covenant membership process.
1. Judicial Privilege: Our covenant members are those who will be given the privilege of voting on critical matters concerning our church body. According to the Scriptures these matters include:
- Installing/uninstalling church officers
- Welcoming/excommunicating church members
- Discretionals—other decisions of critical importance brought to the church at the discretion of the elders
- Appeals—the congregation may at times appeal decisions made by the officers if enough members are concerned (for more on this, see here)
2. Leadership Opportunity: While there are many roles that a non-member/regular attender can fill in the church, we reserve certain positions for those who have already formally covenanted themselves into the membership of this local body. In particular, we require that any who would be a formal officer at Mercy Hill Church (i.e. an elder or deacon), first go through our covenant membership process.
What about My Kids—Can They Become Covenant Members As Well?
We have said from the beginning that we want the doors into membership at this local church to be as wide as the doors into membership of the universal church. In other words, if your child is a genuine believer with a credible profession of faith then, whatever his/her age, we want to make a way for him/her to be a formal member of Mercy Hill Church.
The process might look something like this:
The process might look something like this:
- First, your child, however young, comes to genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Amazing! At this point we would want to baptize your child and would consider him/her an informal member of this church.
- When your child is old enough to meaningfully participate in and complete the Covenant Membership Class and homework, he/she may begin the process of formalizing his/her membership at Mercy Hill.
- Upon completion of all the steps outlined above, he/she will be considered a covenant member of Mercy Hill Church. (It should be noted that the elders, on principle of wisdom, thought it best to withhold voting privileges from children until the age of 18.)
If I Do Commit to Be a Covenant Member, Can I Ever Leave?
Haha! We get it. Commitment is scary. The word "covenant" is even scarier. But of course you can leave as you feel God calls you. The commitment you make as a covenant member isn't that you'll never leave. It's that, while you're here, you're going to be all in; and, if/when God calls you to go, you're going to do your best to leave well (see Appendix 9 of the Covenant Membership Handbook).