Membership

New Hope Baptist Church affirms believer’s baptism. The act of baptism is the believer’s response to experiencing salvation through faith in Christ alone. Therefore, the proper order is that a person would come to faith in Christ for salvation and upon salvation, he or she would be baptized by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A person’s faith is always personal; however, it is never intended to be private. Baptism is a person’s public declaration of identifying his or her life with Christ. Baptism also announces that he or she is joining a particular local church. Another important aspect of baptism is that it provides a visual image of the gospel as it symbolizes the believer’s cooperation in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. As Christ died and was buried, so the believer portrays his or her death to himself or herself as he or she is immersed under water and just as Christ is resurrected from the dead, so the believer being raised up out of the water reflects the new life he or she has in Christ. Upon the believer’s baptism, he or she would, from that point forward, be considered a member of the church. 

You can join NHBC by transfer of letter. This means that you were a member of another Southern Baptist Church and you desire to move your membership from your previous church to NHBC. While there is not a literal letter that follows a member from church to church, it is a way that Southern Baptist Churches keep up with their roles when members move to another Southern Baptist Church. It is also intended to make sure that the member that is seeking church membership is a member that is in good standing at their previous church. If that member is under church discipline at his or her previous church, then the letter would not be moved and that member would be encouraged and expected to return to his or her previous church and embrace repentance and restoration. Once that member is in good standing and if he or she continues to feel the leadership of the Holy Spirit to join NHBC, then he or she would be welcomed to become a member of the church. 

You can join NHBC by statement of faith. Joining by statement of faith means that you have made a genuine profession of faith in Christ and followed in believer’s baptism from another like-minded church.  If a person feels led by the Holy Spirit to join by statement of faith, his or her baptism would have to essentially match the method and mode of baptism listed above. However, if a person was sprinkled, baptized as an infant, or understood that his or her baptism contributed anything to his or her salvation, then joining by baptism would be the proper means of becoming a church member of New Hope Baptist Church.