The Mennonite Church USA desires to be a people of God characterized by a commitment to biblical foundations and to Anabaptist perspectives. Once made, a covenant of membership is nurtured in a spirit of mutual commitment to Jesus Christ and to the body of Christ, the church. Accountability Membership assumes accountability before God and toward one another. Accountability has an inward and an outward dimension, with a biblical commission supporting both aspects. The joyful obligation of membership includes the calling to build up the body of Christ through mutual discernment of the will of God.
Membership includes the invitation to become a community engaged in mission and service.
As witness to God who is one, and to Jesus Christ who was sent to reveal the will of God, the new Mennonite Church desires that members give faithful expression to their unity as the body of Christ. The Mennonite churches have heard this call to unity ever more clearly in recent years. We expect member conferences to share the vision and commitments listed here, and to ask the same of their member congregations. This should be done in consultation with the broader church, in a spirit of mutual accountability. Congregations have the authority to determine the criteria and the responsibility to implement the process for membership of persons joining their congregation.