FORM OF THE RECEPTION AND RECOGNITION OF CHURCH MEMBERS.
+The minister shall cause the candidates to be placed before the
congregation, and after baptizing any who may not have been previously
baptized he shall say:+
Brethren, the Church is of God, and will be preserved to the end of
time, for the promotion of his worship and the due administration of his
word and ordinances—the maintenance of Christian fellowship and
discipline—the edification of believers, and the conversion of the
world. All, of every age and station, stand in need of the means of
grace which it alone supplies; and it invites all alike to become
fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God. But as none
who have arrived at years of discretion can remain within its pales or
be admitted to its communion, without assuming its obligations, it is my
duty to demand of these persons present whether they are resolved to
assume the same.
+Then shall the minister address the candidates, as follows:+
Dearly beloved, you profess to have a desire to flee from the wrath to
come and to be saved from your sins; you seek the fellowship of the
people of God, to assist you in working out your salvation; I therefore
demand of you:
Do you solemnly, in the presence of God and this congregation, ratify
and confirm the promise and vow of repentance, faith, and obedience,
contained in the baptismal convent?
Ans. I do, God being my helper.
Will you be subject to the discipline of the Church, attend upon its
ordinances, and support its institutions?
Ans. I will endeavor so to do, by the help of God.
+The minister shall then say to the candidates:+
We rejoice to recognize you as members of the Church of Christ, and bid
you welcome to all its privileges; and in token of our brotherly love,
we give you the right hand of fellowship, and pray that you may be both
numbered with his people here, and with his saints in glory everlasting.
+The minister shall then say to the congregation:+
Brethren, I commend to your love and care these persons whom we this day
recognize as members of the Church of Christ. Do all in your power to
increase their faith, confirm their hope, and perfect them in love.
+Then may follow a hymn suitable to the occasion (as 881-889), and the
minister shall say:+
Let us pray.
Almighty God, we thank thee for founding thy Church, and promising that
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We bless thee for
calling us to the fellowship of thy people, and for numbering us with
the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. We especially praise thy
name for enabling these thy servants to avouch the Lord to be their God.
Help them to perform the promise and vow which they have made; to
renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh; to believe the record
which thou hast given of thy Son; and to walk in all thy commandments
and ordinances blameless, to the end of their lives. May their communion
with thy people be sanctified to their growth in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, being nourished and knit
together, increasing with the increase of God. May thy people do them
good, and may they prove a blessing to thy people. And grant, O Lord,
that all who are here members of thy militant Church, through thy mercy,
the merit of thy Son, and the grace of thy Spirit, may finally be made
members of thy triumphant Church in heaven.
Amen.
Almighty and everlasting God, Heavenly Father, we give thee humble
thanks, for that thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the knowledge of thy
grace, and faith in thee; increase this knowledge and confirm this faith
in us evermore. Give thy Holy Spirit to these persons, that they, being
born again, may be made heirs of everlasting salvation, through our Lord
Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now
and forever.
Amen.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily
bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass
against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen.