Friday, September 06, 2002 AD PentaMom's Pastor's Plethora of Pledges In a comment on an earlier entry, Jane, a.k.a. PentaMom, mentioned that in her congregation, Faith Reformed Church of Erie, Pa., the reception of new members includes a number of vows in addition to the five basic PCA vows. PentaJane has kindly shared these with me, and I now pass them on to you, gentle reader.
Congregation:
I acknowledge and receive this brother and sister as fellow members of Christ’s Church, and I will pledge to them my duty and love as their (brother/sister) in Christ.
I will be devoted to them in love, honor them above myself, being kind and tender, forgiving and forbearing.
I will seek to encourage and admonish them, to pray for them as I have opportunity, to teach and exhort them to live a holy life.
I will be faithful to practice hospitality ungrudgingly, bear their burdens, and serve them, even to supply material need if I am able.
I will imitate Christ before them and put away falsehood, grudges, anger, dishonesty, evil talk, bitterness, slander and impurity since we are members now of the same body.
I will seek to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and I will accept them as Christ has accepted me in order to bring praise to God.
New Member:
Will you also pledge your duty and love to your brothers and sisters in Christ by being faithful to support the Body using the gifts, talents and resources entrusted to you?
Jane adds, "FWIW, the pastor keeps three versions of this on file, depending on whether we're receiving a man, woman, or both, so we don't get all confused on the brother/sister thing. And he gets the pronouns right." Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 9/06/2002 12:33:00 AM
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