While your relationship with God is personal, He never intended for it to be private. When
you are in God's family you are connected to every other believer, and we belong to each
other for eternity. To follow Christ means not only to believe, but also to belong. We are all members of his Body - the church. The Bible says we are put together, joined together,
built together, members together, heirs together, fitted together, and held together and will
be caught up together. As a Christian you are not on you own anymore.

We believe, just as Paul did that being a "member" of the church means being a vital organ of a living body, an indispensable, interconnected part of the Body of Christ.
The church is a body, not a building. It is an organism, not an organization.

For the organs of your body to fulfill their purpose, they must be connected to your
body. The same is true for you as a part of Christ's body. You were created for a
specific role, but you will miss this if you're not attached to a living, local church.
You discover your role in life through your relationship with others.

The Bible tells us, "Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the
other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people.
Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped
off finger or cut off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we?" Disconnected and
cut off from the lifeblood of a local body, your spiritual life will wither and eventually
cease to exist.

Believing that all members play a vitally important role in our church body, there
are four ways in which you can become a member of Bethesda Baptist Church:

1. Transfer of Letter - Those who are members of other Baptist churches
   may unite with us upon a transfer of their membership. Our church will
   gladly tend to the details and correspond with your former church.
   
2. Believer's Baptism - Individuals who have received Christ as Savior,
   but as of the present have not been baptized may present themselves
   for baptism and membership. We ask you to participate in baptism by
   immersion.
   
3. Statement - Those who have accepted Christ and have experienced
   Believer's baptism by immersion from another Baptist church, or person
   whose membership records are not available, may be received upon their statement of prior experience.
   
4. Profession of Faith and Baptism - Those who have professed faith in
   Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord will be baptized by immersion in
   obedience to our Lord.

If you are considering becoming a member of our congregation we ask that you meet
with our Pastor so he can answer any questions you may have.

The above thoughts were adapted from The Purpose-Driven Life.