Using On The Way for Methodist Membership Preparation
On The Way can be used as a course to prepare people for membership in the Methodist Church in Britain. However, it does not have to lead to membership—participants are welcome to engage with the course simply as part of their discipleship journey. And existing members may want to take the course as a refresher.
If you are running On The Way specifically as a membership course, please ensure that the Go Deeper pages are included in each session. These contain essential information required for those preparing to become members.
Membership in the Methodist Church
Becoming a member of the Methodist Church involves a personal choice and commitment: a promise to grow in grace and holiness within a particular community of disciples—the Local Church. At the same time, members are connected through Circuit, District, and Conference "into a web of inter-dependence in which gifts, decisions and responsibilities are shared."
(Called to Love and Praise, 1999, 4.4.8)
It is the “privilege and duty of members of the Methodist Church, to avail themselves of the two sacraments, namely baptism and the Lord’s Supper” and to cultivate fellowship “in every possible way”. These privileges and duties of membership, and those set out in the Standing Orders, are “commitments by each member to Christian discipleship within the Methodist Church, and to acceptance of its discipline, and by the Church to provision of the means by which that discipleship may be fully expressed, including pastoral care and oversight. Membership is therefore a covenant relationship between the member and the Church, freely entered into by the grace of God.”
(Deed of Union, Clause 9)
Steps to Membership
Complete the Course
Participate in all 12 sessions of On the Way.
Approval by Church Council
Names of those wishing to become members are brought to the Church Council for approval.
Confirmation and Reception into Membership
This takes place during a service of Confirmation and Reception, which includes Baptism for those not previously baptised in any church.
The liturgy for this service begins on page 60 of the Methodist Worship Book.
The service is led by a Presbyter and includes the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
Supporting New Members
The Local Church is responsible for ensuring ongoing opportunities for nurture and learning. It may be appropriate for a group that has completed On The Way together to continue meeting as a new Class within the Local Church.
New members should be:
- Joined into a Class
- Allocated a Class Leader or pastoral visitor
- Given an annual ticket of membership