Bellaire United Methodist Church

Membership Vows
Once you are ready to make your commitment, please fill out a membership card (found in the pew or the worship bulletin). Prior to the singing of the last hymn during the service, the minister will invite those who wish to join the church to the front. During this song, please join the minister with your completed membership card.

When you join the church, you will be asked the following question: “Will you be loyal to the United Methodist Church and uphold it by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness?”

Prayers
Our commitment to uphold the church through intercessory prayer is based upon the fundamental reality that we are not simply a human agency seeking to meet human needs: we pray because we require God’s guidance in order to be the church. When we pray for our pastor, for our teachers, for one another and for those who may never even enter our doors, we express our dependence on God so that we might in turn express the will and compassion of Christ

Presence
Our commitment to uphold the church by our presence is a visible witness of our faith, both in the pew and in the world. Our relationship to Christ is nurtured by our presence in worship where we find spiritual guidance, comfort and strength. But our relationship to Christ is not confined to Sunday morning alone. We also uphold the church by our presence at home, at work, at school and in the community. Wherever we are, our presence should be an expression of our commitment to Christ.

Gifts
Our commitment to uphold the church with our gifts is a thankful response from the heart for all God has given us. Such a commitment serves to remind us of our role as stewards over what God has entrusted to us. The systematic giving of our money also helps to establish and maintain ministries that no individual or single congregation could fund alone. These worthy causes include hospitals, colleges, rehabilitation centers, food and clothing distribution centers, evangelistic and education work and emergency relief.

Service
Our commitment to be loyal to the church and uphold it by our service further reflects our commitment to follow the example of Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). God has entrusted all of us with certain talents and abilities, and sharing these gifts is a means of sharing ourselves out of love and gratitude toward God and out of love for one another.

Witness
The dictionary defines “witness” as “having personal knowledge of something and giving testimony to it.” Thus, one is an observer of an event and then is able to tell others what one has seen or heard.
As Christians, we can witness to the knowledge we have of Jesus Christ and the meaning he has for our lives. Our response to simple questions such as “Do you go to church?” or “Are you a Christian?” is an opening. We can share with one another what we know.
But giving witness is even more than sharing what we know. The first Christian historian, Eusebius, defined witness in terms of the way one lived. He called it philosophia biou — a philosophy of life or more accurately, a way of life. We give witness by the way we live. John Wesley emphasized this through what is now known as “Wesley’s Rule”: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.” It is to live out the promise of the familiar song refrain: “They will know we are Christians by our love.”