Interested in Joining ROC?
Have you been attending River Oaks Church for some time? We would love to invite you to experience the joy of belonging to your local church through church membership.
Our new members class is an opportunity to find out more about who we are and what we believe. It is a great way to learn about the church, meet new people, get plugged into ROC, and see why being committed and belonging to the church through membership can help you and others in many ways. Even if you decide not to join, we hope it is a blessing nevertheless.
Schedule
The four classes will be held in-person during the Sunday school timeslot (10:15-10:45am) in the community center. We will also offer a live Zoom option for those who want to participate from home.
- August 30
- September 6
- September 13
- September 20
On September 27, individuals who would like to proceed with membership will be interviewed (in-person or via Zoom) with an elder of ROC. New Member Sunday will be October 4.
We will also provide some pre-recorded materials to cover certain topics that we will not able to cover in the live classes.
(Note: If you attended the March 2020 class prior to the COVID-19 related lockdown, you do not have to re-attend. Contact the pastors to state your desire to complete the process.)
The class will cover four main topics:
- What is a Christian? (the five confessional vows)
- What is the church?
- Why church membership?
- What is my role? (an overview of ministries at ROC)
Why Become a Member?
The Bible uses several metaphors to describe the nature of the church. For example, the church is compared to a family, a body, an army, and a temple. Each of these word-pictures shares several common features:
- The church is made up of parts
- Each part is vital to the health and function of the whole
- The parts are committed to and identified with the whole
- The parts have a duty to contribute to the whole
- Each part functions under clear leadership
As members of Christ’s body we have many “one another” obligations to fulfill, e.g. “love one another, encourage one another, build one up one another, admonish one another”, etc. In order to fulfill these biblical commands we need one another: we need to know who we are connected to and committed to, and we need to know who we can lean on and who are depending on us.
In addition, Elders are called to “…pay careful attention to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God” (Acts 20:28). As shepherds, we need to know the sheep that have been entrusted to our care and oversight.
If you have reasons for not joining River Oaks Church or questions you need answered before making that decision, please contact us. The pastors would love to schedule a time to sit down with you and hear your thoughts and concerns.
