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Membership

Membership at Shenandoah Valley Baptist Church

The difference between “attendees” and “members” can be summed up in one word: Commitment!

At SVBC, we recognize the need for a formal membership.  We ask people to commit to membership for 4 reasons: 

1. A Biblical Reason:  Christ is committed to the church.

“…Christ loved the church, and he gave his life for it.”  Ephesians 5:25 

2. A Cultural Reason:  It is an antidote to our society.

We live in an age where very few want to be committed to anything… a job… a marriage… our country.  This attitude has even produced a generation of “church shoppers and hoppers.”  Membership swims against the current of America’s “consumer religion.”  It is an unselfish decision.  Commitment always builds character. 

3. A Practical Reason:  It defines who can be counted on.

Every team must have a roster.  Every school must have an enrollment.  Every business has a payroll.  Every army has an enlistment.  Even our country takes a census and requires voter registration.  Membership identifies our family. 

4. A Personal Reason:  It produces spiritual growth.

The New Testament places a major emphasis on the need for Christians to be accountable to each other for spiritual growth.  You cannot be accountable when you’re not committed to any specific church family. 

What is expected of our members?

At SVBC, we never ask our members to do more than the Bible clearly teaches.  We only expect our members to do what the Bible expects every Christian to do.  These responsibilities are spelled out in the Membership Covenant. 

The SVBC Membership Covenant:

"Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior and been baptized, and being in agreement with SVBC statements, strategy, and structure, I now feel led by the Holy Spirit to unite with the SVBC church family.  In doing so, I commit myself to God and to the other members to do the following: 

1.)   I will protect the unity of my church…

…by acting in love toward other members

…by refusing to gossip

…by following the leaders 

“…be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus.”  Romans 15:5

 “…see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.”  I Peter 1:22

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs…”  Ephesians 4:29

“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.  They keep watch over you as men who must give an account.  Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be no advantage to you.”  Hebrews 13:17 

2.)  I will share the responsibility of my church…

…by praying for its growth

…by inviting the un-churched to attend

…by warmly welcoming those who visit

“To the church… we always thank God for you and pray for you constantly.”  I Thessalonians 1:2

“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”  Luke 14:23

“Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.”  Romans 15:7 

3.)  I will serve the ministry of my church…

…by discovering my gifts and talents

…by being equipped to serve by my pastors

…by developing a servant’s heart 

“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same to one another…” I Peter 4:10

“God gave…some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of ministry, so that the body of Christ may be built up…”  Ephesians 4:11-12

“…but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  Look not every man on his own things, but… also on the things of others.  But made for himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.”  Philippians 2:3-4, 7 

4.)  I will support the testimony of the church…

…by attending faithfully

…by living a godly life

…by giving regularly 

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together …but exhorting one another…”  Hebrews 10:25

“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ…with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”  Philippians 1:27

“Each one of you, on the first day of each week, should set aside a specific sum of money in proportion to what you have earned and use it for the offering.”  I Corinthians 16:2 

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 June 2011 14:27

About Us

Thank you for your interest in the Shenandoah Valley Baptist Church family!

"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” I Corinthians 1:10

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” Ephesians 2:19

Our Purpose Statement:

We believe a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will grow a great church!

What is “the Great Commandment”?

“Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart... soul... and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” Matthew 22:36-40

What is “the Great Commission”?

“Jesus said, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20

So then, the SVBC purpose is simply stated in our “Five G’s:”

• Glorify God (“love God with all your heart”)
• Go share the Gospel (“go… make disciples”)
• Grow in God’s Word (“teach them… all things”)
• Give of ourselves (“love your neighbor as yourself”)
• Gather for fellowship (“baptize” or incorporate into fellowship)

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 June 2011 14:25

Church History

Shenandoah Valley Baptist Church was organized on October 1, 1972. The congregation met in the assembly room of the Echo Village Restaurant on U.S. Highway 11-south of the city of Winchester near Kernstown.

Pastor, Dr. J. Gordon Henry initially organized SVBC before turning over the pastorate to Donnie Cantwell, then a student at Liberty Baptist College. Mr. Cantwell became the new pastor in June of 1973.

As the church continued to grow, it became necessary for the congregation to find a building with more room. The meetings were moved to the U.A.W. Union Hall on Papermill Road to accommodate the growth. During this time, it was impressed upon the people’s hearts to start a building program. Through prayer and because of people’s desire to win souls, God supplied the funds for the church to purchase a 33-acre farm near Stephens City, Virginia. The property contained a house, which was used for offices; and also a barn, which was used for Children’s Church on Sunday and for Wednesday night prayer meetings.

During this time, God had been speaking to Pastor Donnie Cantwell’s heart. He felt that God has called him into full-time evangelism. This could have hurt the relatively new church, but God has the ideal man to fill the position. Michael Grooms, along with his wife and son, had been traveling to Winchester on weekends to work as the assistant pastor of the church. The church believed, through prayer, that he was the man God had ordained for the job, and in June of 1975 they called Michael Grooms to the Pastor of Shenandoah Valley Baptist Church.

Pastor Grooms served as the Senior Pastor until 1988. Over the years SVBC added to its full-time staff. Pastor Bob Quinn, Pastor Ron Combs and Pastor Eric Farel were added as associate pastors. Pastor Eric Farel, who had worked in Shenandoah Valley Christian Academy and served in many capacities at the church, was named the church’s new Senior Pastor in May of 1988.

Today the Pastoral staff of SVBC consists of Senior Pastor Eric Farel, Executive Pastor Gene Jones, Associate Pastors Bob Quinn and Ron Combs, and Youth Pastor Andy Combs.

Timeline:

1972 — Shenandoah Valley Baptist Church organized

1974 — SVBC hold first annual missions conference. Speaker Don Sisk

1976 — New Building dedicated

1976 — Shenandoah Valley Christian Academy founded

1982 — “Little Joe Ritchie” Family Life Center dedicated

1988 — Eric Farel becomes Senior Pastor

1994 — Sanctuary Remodeled

1996-1998 — New Education Buildings Constructed

1999 — Vision/Plans for new sanctuary unveiled

2005 — SVBC launches “A Time to Build”

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 June 2011 14:09

Statement of Faith

• We believe in the verbal inspiration and authority of the Scriptures. We believe that the Bible reveals God, the fall of man, the way of salvation, and God's plan and purpose in the ages.
• We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
• We believe in the deity, virgin birth, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• We believe that salvation is by grace plus nothing and minus nothing. The conditions to salvation are repentance and faith.
• We believe that men are justified by faith alone and are accounted righteous before God only through the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Justification establishes an eternal relationship that can never be broken.
• We believe in the visible, personal, and premillennial return of Jesus Christ.
• We believe in the everlasting conscious blessedness of the saved and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 June 2011 14:02