The Lord’s Supper and Church Membership
We believe that every single Christian should be a member of a local church. There is no such thing in the Bible’s New Testament as a non-church member Christian. All Christians, both by biblical example and biblical principle, are to be mutually submissive and accountable members of a church.
We believe that a person enters a local church through the ordinance of baptism. Baptism is how you visibly signify that you are united to Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:1–4), and is therefore a public profession of faith in Jesus.
Baptism is how you publicly identify yourself with Jesus and with His people (Acts 2:38–41).
Baptism is how you are identified by the church and the world as one who belongs to the Triune God (Matt. 28:19). When a church receives a person as a member, they affirm someone’s public profession of faith in Jesus.
Because of this, baptism by immersion (after believing in Jesus as Saviour) is a requirement for becoming a member of our church.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is to be given to committed members of churches who are faithful to the gospel of Jesus. These members are to be in good standing with their church (not under discipline).
This is a requirement to participate in the Lord’s Supper with us for the following reasons:
- The Lord’s Supper is inseparable from the new covenant community, that is, the church (1 Corinthians 11:17–23). We eat the Lord’s Supper as a church. From the beginning of the church, the church “came together” for the meal. Since it is a communal meal, we would say that those participating are a part of that communion. As one participates in the Lord’s Supper, he proclaims oneness with Christ and the other members of the church.
- The Lord’s Supper is, in part, a pledge of covenantal faithfulness to Jesus and therefore to His people. By embracing church membership, one embraces the unity symbolised by the Lord’s Supper—where “the many are made one body” (1 Corinthians 10:18). As members of a body, individuals participate fully in the ordinance that celebrates oneness with Christ and with fellow believers, affirming the shared commitment to unity in faith and community. To “receive the Lord’s body” in the Lord’s Supper, one must fully receive the Lord’s body, the church. We believe it is impossible to renew commitment to Christ and to reject Christ’s body (the local church) at the same time. It is impossible to simultaneously love Christ and to not love the local church, whom Christ loves.
Bobby Jamieson helpfully writes of church membership:
Church membership is required because [through it] we enact our submission to Jesus. We embrace our membership in the universal body by becoming members of a local body. Professing Christians who don’t belong to any church are rejecting Jesus’ authority by refusing to submit to His proxy.
He then concludes:
“Allowing individuals who aren’t members of any church to participate in the Lord’s Supper gives them the benefits of fellowship without the commitment, the intimacy without the promise.”
If you are visiting with us and are a baptised believer, and a member of another gospel-believing church in good standing (not under church discipline), you are welcome to join us at the Lord’s table.
If not, we invite you to observe and then speak with us after the service.