The Five Membership Vows
When someone joins Christchurch Miami, they stand up in front of the church and answer five questions out loud. They are the same five in every PCA congregation, and they have not changed in a long time. Here they are, with what each one actually means.
Before you read them
These are promises, so they are worth reading slowly. Nobody expects you to arrive at them already perfect — the third one literally promises only to endeavour, and the fourth is capped at the best of your ability. If any of them worry you, that is a good reason to come and ask rather than a reason to stay away.
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First
Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?
Agreeing with God about yourself
This is not a performance of self-loathing. It is agreeing with God's assessment rather than your own — that the problem is real, and that His verdict on it is fair, which is what justly is doing in that sentence. “Without hope save in His sovereign mercy” means there is no second route: not being decent, not trying harder, not a family connection to the church. You are saying you need rescuing and cannot do it yourself.
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Second
Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
Trusting Christ, not just believing facts about Him
The load-bearing word is alone. Not Jesus plus your record, your church attendance or your good intentions — Him, by Himself, for all of it. “Receive and rest” is old language for something simple: you take what is offered, and then you lean your weight on it. A person who has done that is not someone who has become perfect. It is someone who has stopped trying to save themselves.
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Third
Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
A promise to try, not a claim to have arrived
Read what it actually asks: you endeavour, and you do it in humble reliance on the Holy Spirit. The church is not asking you to promise you will stop sinning, and it is assuming from the outset that you will need help. It is asking whether you intend to live as a follower of Jesus — and whether you know where the strength for that comes from.
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Fourth
Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
Showing up, serving, giving
Worship and work: being here on Sundays, and carrying some of the load the rest of the week — serving somewhere, giving something. “To the best of your ability” is a real qualifier, not politeness. It scales to your season, your health and your means, and it is not a pledge of a particular amount. It does mean the church is counting on you rather than merely hosting you.
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Fifth
Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?
Accountability, and working for the church's good
This is the one that sounds most alarming, so it is worth being plain. Government means you accept that the elders lead this church and you will not run a rival operation inside it. Discipline means that if you wander badly, people here love you enough to come after you — the aim is always restoration, never punishment. It does not hand anyone authority over your private life, your money or your decisions. And the last clause is a job, not a submission: you promise to work for this church's holiness and its unity, which mostly means you do not gossip and you do not let a grievance fester.
Where these come from
These five are the vows set out in the Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America, 57-5, which is the constitution our church is governed by. They are asked word for word in every PCA congregation. The explanations above are ours.