Church Membership

Confirmation & Reception into Membership of The Methodist Church

This is a service of celebration and welcome. Some people are ready to make this declaration of their faith early on in their Christian journey, for others it may take a long time before they feel ready to ask for confirmation. Within a Methodist congregation or fellowship there will be those who are already Confirmed and those who have not yet made that decision for themselves.

A service of Confirmation and Reception into Membership happens in the Methodist Church when a person feels that they are ready to make a commitment to follow Jesus and wishes to be part of His Church.

'Confirmation' is primarily about saying publicly that the person now wishes to confirm for themselves the promises made at their Baptism, most often as a baby of small child, for themselves.  They are saying that they believe in the gifts of grace God offered through the sign of their Baptism and that they are ready to make a commitment to follow Jesus. Within the service of Confirmation and Reception into Membership the individual will make the affirmation of faith of the universal Church, that we believe in God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, and promise to seek to live out this faith in their daily lives.

Once someone has made this declaration they are then 'Received into membership of The Methodist Church' by way of a simple act of formal welcome. We do this as an acknowledgment that whilst all Christians are Baptised into the one universal Church of Christ Jesus, the individual is also making a commitment to his/her local Methodist Church, and therefore also to the wider Methodist Church.

Individuals who have been Baptised in other church traditions, but now worshipping with a Methodist Church, may well ask to be Confirmed and Received into Membership of that Church.

Sometimes there are individuals who have been both Baptised and Confirmed within another tradition of the Christian Church but who now worship and share in the life of a Methodist Church, and may request to become a Member of that Church.

The Methodist Church acknowledges both Baptism and Confirmation within other church traditions whose affirmation of faith we share.

Minister - Revd. Marcia Tull - marcia.tull@methodist.org.uk