Membership

1. Requirement of membership
Members are required to be able to affirm the following as true of statements of what they believe: (cf. Book of Forms page 205)

a.) I profess that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour, and I want to follow and serve Him as His disciple. I believe He is the Son of God sent to redeem the world. I love and trust Him as the One who saves me from sin; I continue to turn from my rebellion against my Lord, and embrace Him as Lord of my life with repentance and joy.

b.) I acknowledge that the teaching of the Old and New Testaments, summarised in the Apostles= Creed and our Confessions, and taught in this Christian church, is the true and complete doctrine of salvation.(i.e. Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confessions of Faith, Canons of Dordt, Westminster Confession of Faith)

c.) I accept the gracious promises of God sealed to me in my baptism and affirm my union with Christ and His church which baptism signifies.

d.) I promise to do all I can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to strengthen my love and commitment to Christ by sharing faithfully in the life of the church and its means to grace, honouring and submitting to its supervision and discipline, and I join with the people of God in doing the work of the Lord wherever I am.

2. Transfer of Membership
a.) From other churches.
Transfers from the following churches are accepted upon presentation of membership papers/certificates. (Church Order Art. 66c)
Australasia:
Christian Reformed Church in the Phillippines (CRC-P)
Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA)
Reformed Churches of New Zealand (RCNZ) Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPC)
Europe:
Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (CGKN) Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerken (NGK)
America:
Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA)
Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Africa and Asia:
Dutch Reformed Church in Sri Lanka
Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa (DRC)
Reformed Church of South Africa
Reformed Church in South Africa - Soutpansberg
(Cf. Page 146 2000/2001 Christian Reformed Churches of Australia Yearbook)
b.) Members wishing to have their membership transferred to other churches (either Reformed Church of Australia, or those on the list above) may request a membership certificate and be confident that they will be received into membership. (Church Order Art.72)
c.) Members who choose to transfer to a church not listed above may request a letter of recommendation from the Session commending them to the care of the nominated church.

3. Expectations of Membership
As indicated by agreement to the four statements in 1 above, all members are expected to have an active involvement and lively interest in the life, welfare, and extension of the Reformed Church of Box Hill.

Session expects all members to:
a.) Regularly attend worship services. We note that there are two worship services every Sunday one at 10 am and also one at 6 pm. Session urges the membership to also participate with thankful praise to the Lord in the evening worship service (Heb 10:24,25). (Church Order Art. 58)
b.) Be available, according to the way in which the Lord has granted His gifts, to be involved either in service or in participation in Sunday School, Church Education, Youth group, Bible studies, in Session as elder or deacon, the rosters for weekly flowers, Bible readers in Worship services, coffee duty after the morning service, creche, greeting people at the door etc.
c.) Only communicant members and Christian guests known to the Session may participate in Lord’s Supper.
d.) Only Communicant members may serve in leadership and teaching roles.
e.) Only communicant men who meet the requirements of 1 Timothy 3 may serve as elders and deacons.
f.) As a result of our thankfulness to God for the grace we have in Christ Jesus, we desire to worship our Saviour and have fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Session may therefore be placed under obligation to approach members with concern for their spiritual condition where there is a non attendance of worship services for extended periods of time. (Church Order Art. 86, 91)
g.) Give in a meaningful way.

4. Church Membership and Giving
We are all aware of the fact that the church is dependent on the financial giving of its members. However, not every one, especially one who is new in the church, is familiar with the way in which the church manages its income and expenditure. The following information is supplied in order that you may be able to give in a meaningful way, and thus more fully praise the Lord and serve Him in His Church and Kingdom.

In our congregation, members give through the offerings or collections held in each worship service. Our total giving supports both the local Church and the denomination as a whole. Both are engaged in the work of the Lord in a variety of ways and both need your support. The Church Paper, as a rule, will announce beforehand the purpose of the offerings. This purpose is the same for both morning and evening services. Some of these purposes are decided upon by the local church through its Session, some by the Classis, and others are prescribed or recommended by the denomination through its Synods.

The last SYNOD, for example, has PRESCRIBED certain collections for the following purposes: Home Missions, Solomon Islands Workgroup, Ministerial Aid and Mutual Assistance Gift Account, Reformed Churches Youth Comm., Reformed Theological College, World Relief Workgroup......

And also RECOMMENDED that offerings be held, for the following: additional offerings for World Relief Workgroup, Reformed Theological College and Solomon Islands Workgroup; RTC Overseas Student Fund, Cadets, Calvinettes, Reformed Church Youth of Aust., RCA Resources, The Bible League, REC Needy Churches Fund, Wycliffe Bible Translators......

Then in addition to all the above, our own SESSION has set aside offerings for Diaconate, Middle East Reformed Fellowship, and CLASSIS has called on the Churches to hold an offering for Needy Churches in our Classis.

You see, therefore, that both the local church and the churches as a whole, support many worthwhile causes in God's Kingdom. The number of offerings or collections held for each cause is calculated according to need. The collection roster and the annual financial statement, provide the details. All moneys received through the offerings and collections go directly to the causes designated. They are not added to the general revenue of the local Church.

But now the local church, and the denomination as a whole, have of course their own expenses, the details of which are shown each year on the church's budget. We can roughly group these expenses as follows:
a) Expenses relating to the MINISTRY OF THE WORD, e.g. teaching materials for the instruction of the youth of the church, ministers stipend and car expenses, expenses for evangelism work and diaconal needs over and above moneys raised by offerings.
b) Expenses relating to PROPERTIES e.g. cleaning, loan repayments, rates, electricity, gas, insurances, maintenance, improvements.
c) QUOTAS. Whilst (a) and (b) apply to the local church, (c) has to do with the projects and expenses undertaken the denomination. Quotas are fixed amounts determined by Synods and paid by the local by churches on the basis of the number of communicant members, for things like: Emeritation/Superannuation, Long Service Leave, Ministerial Aid and Mutual Assistance, Home Missions, Reformed Theological College, Student Assistance Fund, Synodical Board of Management expenses, Reformed Churches Youth Comm., Solomon Islands Workgroup. As a denomination some eight people are employed in full and part time capacities. A lot of money is required for some of these matters and the proceeds from offerings and collections are by themselves insufficient, hence the need to have quotas.
The funds to meet the expenses of (a), (b) and (c) above are collected mainly through the offerings during worship services. To assist the members in their giving, the Finance and Property Committee and treasurer in budgeting for the fixed expenses and quotas, the Reformed Church of Box Hill has the long standing practice of Pledged Free Will offering.

Using this practice of Pledged Free Will offering (recommended, not compulsory) a member pledges and contributes a fixed amount (it is suggested 80% 90% of total offering) on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly). Although such a pledge is made before the Lord, it may be changed immediately when altered circumstances make it necessary to do so by advise to the treasurer. Your Pledged Free Will offering can be made in a number of ways:
a) using numbered weekly envelopes (obtainable from the treasurer) for cash and cheques;
b) for contributions by way of cheques, use an envelope addressed to the treasurer, marked with your name and the period of your contribution;
c) using Direct Debiting on arrangement with the treasurer. To complete the total offering, the Pledged Free Will offering is augmented by contributing to the offering during the worship services in which members and guests, young and old can participate (Ex 23:15, 1Cor 16:1 2).
What needs to be stressed here is the importance of the involvement of all members. If, for example there are 100 members but 50 do not participate, or participate poorly, the congregation is still expected to pay a quota which is set for the 100 members. Offering is an important part of the Christian life and also in the life of the church as an integral part of worship. Therefore the offering has to be taught and learned. We do this best by not letting the collection bag go past without contributing.

We trust that the above information is helpful to you and we hope that it may enable you to be a cheerful and faithful giver to the work of the Lord among His people.

5. Cessation of Membership
Membership in the Reformed Church of Box Hill may be terminated in the following ways:
a.) Transfer of membership (see 2)
b.) Resignation of membership.
c.) Lapsed membership. If a person has no involvement with the church for 12 months, despite the efforts of Session to draw them back in, then the Session will consider that person as no longer being a member, and their name will be removed from the membership. A letter will be sent to the person informing them of their withdrawn membership.