"New" Church Members

On 5th July, it was a delight to welcome seven friends into church membership at St. Andrew's. Graham and Marianne, Jean, Vera and Jo have all been worshipping with us for some time but to some extent still count as folk who have recently joined us on Sundays. It was good to hear that they felt able to make the step of commitment that becoming a member involves and it was great to welcome them formally to the congregation. For Faye and Andandi, ours is the fellowship within which they have spent a large part of their school years and so, while being at the younger end of the group, they were in a sense, the "old timers". I hope their confirmation was a special event for them both - it certainly was a great joy for those present to be part of this significant step on their journeys of faith.
So, we are strengthening connections with some of our number by admitting them to the full privileges and responsibilities of church membership, as our denomination puts it. Welcome to you all!
There were those who were invited, but chose not to proceed to membership at this stage. We hope in due course, that we might welcome you officially too. There are ongoing conversations with some of you, which I hope will result in another welcome service soon. We hope, whether member or friend of the congregation, that all feel a valued and appreciated part of our church community.