If you are an Episcopalian:
If you are or have been a member of another Episcopal congregation, or were ever confirmed in an Episcopal Church, you can transfer your membership. Please provide our Parish Office with the name and location of the Church and the approximate dates of your membership or the year of your confirmation. We will then send for a letter of transfer, or you may wish to contact your previous parish yourself.
If you are from another province of The Anglican Communion:
If you are a confirmed Anglican from, for example, The Church of England or the Church in the Province of the West Indies, please provide the Parish Office with (as much as possible) your birth date and place, baptismal date and place, confirmation date, place, and Bishop. We will take it from there.
If you are a member of another Christian denomination:
If you were baptized with water in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in any Christian denomination, you may become a “baptized member” of St. John’s. Just provide the Parish Office with your birth date and place, baptismal date and place. At some point, you will need to be “received” into The Episcopal Church, when the bishop visits.
If you have not been Baptized:
Call the Parish Office to make an appointment with Fr. Ron, so you can discuss what baptism means to you, and to set a date for your baptism. Baptisms are usually done at regularly scheduled celebrations of The Holy Eucharist on the feast days specified by The Book of Common Prayer: Baptism of Our Lord (early January), Easter Eve (the evening before Easter Sunday), Pentecost (late May/early June), and All Saints (first Sunday in November). Other Sundays can be discussed.
If you wish to be Confirmed or Received:
The Book of Common Prayer defines Confirmation as “The rite in which we express a mature commitment to Christ, and receive strength from The Holy Spirit through Prayer and the laying on of hands by a Bishop.” Youth Confirmation classes and Adult Inquirers’ classes are offered during the year, after we know when the bishop will be visiting St. John’s. Any baptized adult, and any baptized youth in the seventh grade or higher, is eligible. Persons who have been confirmed in another denomination by a Bishop in the Apostolic Succession (most often Roman Catholic or Orthodox) are received by The Bishop rather than confirmed. Those who have been confirmed or received are classified as “confirmed communicants.” Speak with the clergy if you are interested in Confirmation or Reception.