Becoming a member

How it works

1. Come. Attend gatherings for a season, ordinarily at least sixty days. Get to know us and let us know you.
2. Read. The Statement of Faith, the Constitution and Bylaws, and the Covenant below. Ask a minister anything.
3. Affirm and sign. Affirm the Statement of Faith before a minister and sign the Covenant.
4. Be received. The Council of Elders receives new members, and the reception is celebrated in a gathering.

Nothing is charged for membership. Nothing is required to be given. You may withdraw at any time by a note to the Clerk. To begin, write to the Clerk.

The nature of this Church

Spiritual Results (the "Church") is a private religious society, organized as an unincorporated religious association. Its gatherings, rites, pastoral care, teaching, and internal affairs are for its members and for the guests they invite. They are not open to the public. Membership is a privilege granted by the Council of Elders and may be withdrawn by the member at any time or by the Council under the Constitution and Bylaws.

By signing this Covenant, I ask to be received as a member of the Church, and I agree with the Church and with its members as follows.

1. Faith

I have read the Statement of Faith and I affirm it sincerely. I understand that the Church imposes no creed beyond it and that I remain free in conscience, and I will not use that freedom to trouble the peace of the Church.

2. Government

I have read the Constitution and Bylaws. I agree to be governed by them, and by the Council of Elders acting under them, in all matters of the faith, doctrine, discipline, membership, and internal affairs of the Church. I understand that the Council's decisions in those matters are ecclesiastical decisions, final within the Church, and not reviewable by any civil authority, and I agree not to bring such matters before any civil court.

3. Participation

I will gather with the Church regularly. I will support the Church's work according to my means and my conscience, understanding that no contribution is required as a condition of membership. I will conduct myself according to the Statement of Faith.

4. Privacy of the fellowship

I understand that the Church is private. I will treat what is shared in its gatherings and in pastoral counsel as confidential. I will not record, publish, or broadcast the Church's gatherings without the consent of the Presiding Minister. I will not invite a guest to a gathering without the consent of a minister or elder. I understand that the Church keeps my membership and my communications with its ministers private to the fullest extent the law allows.

5. Disputes

If I have a dispute with another member or with the Church, I will bring it first to a minister privately, then to two elders for mediation, then to the Council, as the Bylaws provide. If a dispute of a civil nature between me and the Church is not resolved in that way, I agree to binding arbitration under Article 10 of the Bylaws rather than litigation, to the extent the law permits such an agreement.

6. Assumption of risk and release

I take part in the Church's gatherings, rites, and activities voluntarily. I understand that spiritual counsel is not medical, psychological, legal, or financial advice, and that the Church's ministers are not licensed in those fields unless they say so in writing. To the fullest extent the law allows, I release the Church, its elders, trustees, ministers, and members from liability for injury or loss arising from my voluntary participation, except for willful misconduct.

7. Property

I understand that I acquire no ownership interest in any property of the Church, that all property of the Church is irrevocably dedicated to its religious purposes, and that nothing will be distributed to me or to any member on withdrawal, removal, or dissolution.

8. What membership does not do

I understand that membership in the Church is a religious relationship and not a legal shield. It does not exempt me, or the Church, from any law of general application, from any tax lawfully owed, or from any license the law requires for an activity I undertake. The Church has told me plainly that it claims no such immunity and that I may not claim it in the Church's name.

9. Withdrawal

I may withdraw from membership at any time by written notice to the Clerk. On withdrawal my obligations under paragraphs 4, 5, 6, and 7 continue as to matters that arose while I was a member.

10. Consent to notice

The Church may give me notice of meetings and other Church business by electronic mail at the address below, or by any other means I later agree to in writing.

Received into membership by the Council of Elders on [DATE], as a [covenant / fellowship] member.