Becoming a Member

How the Pittsburgh Baptist Church receives members

1. We receive members by letter from other Baptist churches of like belief and practice. This letter indicates that a person has personally accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and has given a public witness of this by immersion to obey the command and example of Christ.

2. We accept members by statement.  Not all churches grant letters of recommendation or perhaps their records are not correct. Often Christians come from Christian churches other than Baptist. Therefore, we accept members by their personal statement that they have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and have given a clear witness to their salvation experience obeying the Biblical teaching on immersion. They are also to be in agreement with basic Baptist beliefs.

3. If a person has accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and has not given a clear witness by baptism (immersion), we ask them to be baptized.  This is following the example of Christ (Matthew 3:13-17) and in obedience to his command (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:38; Matthew 10:32-33) to give this clear public witness. The church will help individuals prepare for the experience of baptism as it is expressed with true Biblical meaning.

4. Individuals are asked to respond publicly by coming forward at the end of any worship service during the hymn of "response to God" and share with the pastor and congregation their request for membership.