Baptized Member

Definition and Meaning

A baptized member is a church member who has professed faith, received baptism, and become a full member of the church. A person who received infant baptism as a child becomes a full member after growing up and passing a confirmation examination; such people are called confirmed members. Baptized members and confirmed members hold the same rights within the church.

Korean churches have traditionally classified members according to their stage of faith:

• Inquirers (wonip gyoin): those who have begun attending church and have registered
• Catechumens (hakseup gyoin): those who have passed the catechumenate examination and are receiving instruction before baptism
• Baptized children (yua serye gyoin): those who received infant baptism but have not yet been confirmed
• Baptized members (confirmed members): full members who have been baptized or confirmed

Biblical and Historical Background

The command to baptize (Matthew 28:19) and the record of baptized believers being added to the community (Acts 2:41) are frequently cited as the basis for the concept of the baptized member. The early church instructed candidates for baptism in doctrine for a set period before baptizing them. In Korea as well, early missionaries are known to have established a catechumenate system to examine candidates' faith and conduct before baptism, and this graded classification continues to the present day.

Practice in Korean Churches

Baptized members may participate in the Lord's Supper and receive membership rights that allow them to take part in church decision-making. The details, however, vary by denomination.

• Presbyterian churches: Under each denomination's church constitution, baptized (confirmed) members become members of the congregational meeting and have the right to vote. To be elected deacon, kwonsa (exhorter), or elder, a person must have been a blameless (muheum) baptized member for a specified period. "Blameless" here means not having been subject to church discipline. The required period differs by denomination and office. Some denominations also determine the number of commissioners to the presbytery and general assembly, or the amount of assessed contributions, according to the number of baptized members.
• Korean Methodist Church: Methodists likewise maintain the stages of catechumenate, baptism, and confirmation, and the classification and rights of members are defined in the denomination's law, the Doctrines and Discipline.
• Baptist churches: Because Baptists do not practice infant baptism, they have no separate category of confirmed members. Those who profess faith and receive baptism by immersion become full members. Under congregational polity, full members take part in the church's members' meeting (business meeting). Differing understandings of baptism and immersion are discussed in the article Baptism and Immersion.
• Anglican Church of Korea: Those baptized as infants are later confirmed (a rite in which a person personally affirms the faith) as they grow up.

In church statistics, the "number of baptized members" is frequently used as an indicator of a church's size. This figure may differ from attendance figures or from the number of people registered on the church roll.