Glossary: membership vows

Taken when a person joins a United Methodist church as a baptized or professing member. By taking the baptismal and local church membership vows, the individual agrees to covenant with God and the members of the local church to keep the vows that are part of living the baptismal covenant and reception into membership in the local church. These vows have four parts: (1) to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; (2) to believe in the Christian faith as contained in the Old and New Testaments; (3) to support The United Methodist Church; and (4) to uphold the local congregation with one's prayers, presence, gifts, service ,and witness. The first two parts are included among the baptismal vows. Those and the latter two parts are included in the vows when becoming a professing member in a local United Methodist congregation.