Contact a Nearby Seventh-Day Adventist Church

• If you are not already aware of an SDA church in your area, you can visit the church's official website at www.adventist.org for a list of churches. Just click on the "Find a Church" button in the top right corner of the site.
  
  

The Importance of Baptism in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church

• For Seventh-Day Adventists, the rite of church membership is baptism. Adventists practice what is known as "believer's baptism" (baptism of those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ). Seventh-Day Adventists baptize by immersion, meaning the whole body of the candidate is immersed in a pool of water.
  
  If you have already undergone believer's baptism by immersion in another church, you have the choice of either being rebaptized in the SDA church or being received as a member by profession of faith.
  
  

Instruction

• Prior to being received as a member in the SDA church, you will need to learn more about the SDA faith and its practices. You may be required to take a class with other candidates for membership, or you may receive private instruction from a minister or church leader.
  
  

Examination

• After you have received instruction, you will be asked to undergo an examination regarding your faith and beliefs. Each local church will have its own rules for where and how this examination will take place. You may be examined before the entire congregation, with a smaller group of church leaders or by a new members committee.
  
  

Baptism and Reception as a New Church Member

• After your examination, you will be presented to the church and will be asked to publicly affirm your acceptance of the doctrines and tenets of the SDA faith. The congregation will then vote on whether to accept your membership. If you have not yet been baptized, you may be baptized at the same time as your reception into church membership, or, in some cases, the congregation will vote on your membership prior to your baptism. If the vote takes place before your baptism, you will be received as a member after your baptism has taken place.
  
  This is just an overview of the denomination's guidelines for becoming a member of the SDA church. Your local church may have its own practices and requirements, so be sure to speak to your minister about any concerns that you might have.