Membership & Baptism
Membership
Join Us
At Redeemer, church membership means you’re committing yourself to a family of believers. It also means going from being a consumer to becoming a provide of God’s love and care to others.
“In the New Testament there is no such person as a Christian who is not a church member. Conversion was described as ‘the Lord adding to the church’ (Acts 2:46). There was no spiritual drifting.” (Douglas Millar)
3 Steps for Membership
Step 2 of 3
Membership Interview
After completing 101, a pastor or elder will meet with you to answer any questions you have about Redeemer.
Step 3 of 3
Covenant & Baptism
You, along with other new members, will be asked to make a public covenant before the church. If you have never been baptized, we would be delighted to baptize you when you make your membership covenant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Membership at Redeemer means that you have committed yourself to our family of believers — that you have agreed to participate as fully as you are able in the life, ministry, and government of our church. Therefore, Redeemer members must affirm our membership covenant.
To be a member of a church is to make a public promise to live according to the Word and to support the work of the congregation. In the Bible this is called a “covenant”. A public promise, or covenant, is the basis for all society, according to the Bible: marriage, employment, citizenship, church membership, etc. are all relationships of accountability. Membership in a church is not like membership in a social club or other organizations. Most organizations see their members as consumers, the ones whom the organization serves. The Church of Christ is a completely different community – membership means ministry and service, means going from being a consumer to becoming a provider of God’s love and care to others. At Redeemer, we take seriously that we are a church not for ourselves, but for others.
If you decide to stay involved with Redeemer without membership, there will be no effort to pressure you into joining. Do not join unless you are ready to be committed. We believe that membership in Redeemer is a privilege. It is not required for full participation in church activities. We encourage you to join our covenant family, but we do not intend to exclude anyone from family activities if they have chosen not to pursue formal membership. Non-members may worship with us, attend meetings on the church’s future, be active in a community group or other ministry, go on the church retreats, etc. Many regular attenders have been quite active with our church without a membership commitment – but let us say again that we would prefer to have you inside the family.
To transfer your membership from another church (PCA or non-PCA), you will need to complete 2 easy steps. First, you must notify your church that you would like to become a member at Redeemer San Diego. Then, your former church will need to send a letter or email saying that you are in good standing and that they are releasing you into the hands of Redeemer San Diego for spiritual care. All letters or emails should be addressed and sent to Pastor Bryan Schafer ([email protected]).
Baptism
We are family
God has always given his people visible pictures of his promises to confirm their reality and his faithfulness to keep them. In the Old Testament, he gave his people circumcision and the Passover. In the New Testament, he gave us baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Col. 2:11-12).
“Baptism is primarily God’s speaking to us, not us to him. It is there that he signifies and seals an operation of grace that he performs in the context of a community that he has established.” (Lyle Bierma)
Frequently Asked Questions
We believe that through the sacrament of baptism, God is spiritually present, using an outward sign to display an inward reality. While there’s nothing magical about the waters of baptism, there is something very spiritual about them when they’re accompanied by the preached Word and administered in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Every spring, we offer a 4-week Exploring My Faith class for kids, junior high, and high school students. At the conclusion of this class, you will have the opportunity to make a profession of faith, get baptized, and become a member of Redeemer.
If you’re an adult who’s come to faith in Christ, we would love to talk with you about getting baptized. Complete the baptism interest form and one of our pastors will be in touch soon.
At Redeemer, we baptize adults who come to faith in Jesus and children of believers. The Bible tells us that God’s covenant family (the church) is made up of individuals and households (Gen. 17:9-11; Acts 16:15, 32-33; 1 Cor. 1:16. 7:12-14). In baptism, our children are received into God’s covenant family. The water of baptism symbolizes the water of cleansing for those who believe, but for those who turn away in unbelief the water symbolizes the reality of judgement.
When your child is baptized, they are given a life-long sign pointing to the gospel. They are also received into the church community – who makes a solemn promise to assist you in discipling your child in the gospel.
Many people argue that since every child needs to consciously profess their faith in Christ, baptism should be withheld until that time. At Redeemer, we recognize the importance for every child to make a profession of faith and to honor that profession with significance. We believe that the more appropriate expression of this is the child’s welcome to the Lord’s Supper. All of our children are encouraged to go through the communicant’s process (Exploring My Faith class) whereby they can make a profession of faith and are received as full members of the church in their own right.