Membership & Baptism
At Trinity Church, we believe that being a follower of Christ and being a member of his people are two sides of the same coin—and that being a member of the church and being a member of a church as also two sides of the same coin. So we encourage all Christians to be members of a particular church.
Becoming a member or covenant partner with Trinity Church is quite simple. You don’t have to make a financial pledge or agree with every aspect of Presbyterian doctrine; all that is required is a credible profession of faith in Jesus Christ. We do expect members to be gathering with one another for worship and fellowship, growing spiritually, and giving of their time and resources.
Several times a year we offer a class called “An Introduction to Trinity Church.” This is to help people understand who we are and what we believe, and we ordinarily ask potential new members to participate in this class. If you have been a member of a church before, we accept membership transfers for any church—of any denomination—that proclaims the historic Christian faith. If you have not been baptized before (and we accept baptisms from other denominations), being baptized in a part of the membership process.
We normally baptize by effusion—that is, by pouring water on the person. Presbyterians also accept baptisms by immersion—that is, by putting the person into the water—and we will baptize people by immersion when requested, although we cannot do that at a worship service at our church as our building does not have a facility for immersion.
Presbyterians also believe in the historic practice of baptizing the infant children of believers in Jesus, and we’re happy to speak with you if you have questions or would like your child to be baptized. If this is not your personal belief, however, you are still welcome to be a member at Trinity Church.
For children who were baptized as infants, we observe confirmation—the rite where a child makes a profession of faith in Christ and is admitted to Holy Communion. To assist the parents in this process, a Confirmation Class is offered regularly, usually taught by the senior pastor.