Becoming a Member
We hope you will consider making St. Francis your spiritual home.
You are welcome to worship at St. Francis for as long as you like without doing anything at all. Nobody will ask you to sign a form, and nobody will treat you as a visitor for a year and then a member for ever afterwards. Belonging here begins long before any paperwork does.
There does come a point, though, for many people, when they would like to say so out loud. Membership is the way the Episcopal Church makes that formal: it puts your name on the parish roll, it allows you to vote at the Annual Meeting and to serve on the Vestry, and it means that this congregation has said, in return, that you are ours to care for.
There are four ways in, and which one applies to you depends entirely on where you have come from rather than on how far along you think you are. Before any of them, and quite separately from them, there is St. Francis 101, which is simply four Sunday mornings of getting to know the place.
Four ways in
One
Baptism
If you have never been baptized, this is where Christian life begins, at any age from infancy onward.
Two
Confirmation
If you were baptized but have never made those promises for yourself before a bishop.
Three
Reception
If you were confirmed in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Lutheran churches and wish to be received.
Four
Transfer
If you are already a member of another Episcopal parish and would like your membership to follow you here.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.
Ephesians 2:19
Before any of the four
St. Francis 101, our Newcomers’ Series
St. Francis 101 is a four-week introduction to life in this parish, for newcomers of every age and every faith background. Whether you are new to the Episcopal tradition, returning to church after a long absence, or simply curious about this community, it is a relaxed and relational space in which to ask questions, to meet people, and to work out what belonging here might mean. Over the four weeks we cover who we are, how we worship, where you can connect, and how we live our faith in service.
Children are included rather than parked. Our Director of Family Ministry, Lindsay Tonge, meets with elementary-aged children each week for a light, age-appropriate hour on St. Francis and the love of Jesus, with simple lessons, small crafts, games and activities, so that they arrive feeling safe, valued and glad to be here.
You will end the series by taking part in a Liturgy of Belonging during worship, a celebration of the community we are becoming together.
The next three series, Sundays at 10:00 a.m.
- 18 October to 8 November 2026
- 17 January to 7 February 2027
- 11 April to 2 May 2027
The first door
Baptism
Baptism is the foundation of membership in any Episcopal church, and it is the sacrament by which a person becomes a member of the Body of Christ. It is administered once and it is never repeated.
If you were baptized in another Christian tradition, we recognise that baptism gladly, whatever the denomination, and we will never ask you to be baptized again.
Children and adults alike are baptized here, and adult baptism is neither unusual nor awkward. If you would like to be baptized, or to have your child baptized, please speak with one of the clergy. We celebrate baptism on a set of dates through the year that fall on the great feasts, and you are welcome to look at those dates and choose the one that suits your family.
The second and third doors
Confirmation and Reception
Confirmation is the moment a person speaks for themselves the promises that were made at their baptism, and receives the laying on of hands by a bishop. It is the point at which an inherited faith is claimed as one's own, which is why we do not hurry anybody toward it.
Reception is the corresponding step for someone already confirmed in a church with bishops in the historic succession, ordinarily the Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Lutheran churches. A bishop receives you into this Communion without asking you to repeat what has already been done. Those confirmed in another Episcopal parish need neither, and should simply transfer.
Youth Confirmation
Our young people are prepared as a group over several months, and we take their questions seriously, including the ones that do not have tidy answers. A young person who is not ready is never pressed, and there is always another year.
Adult Confirmation
Adults are prepared in a class that covers the essentials of the Christian faith and of the Episcopal Church in particular. It is equally open to anyone who simply wants to understand what this church believes and has no intention of being confirmed at the end of it, and a good many people come on exactly that basis.
When the Bishop Comes
Confirmation and reception happen when the Bishop visits the parish, which is ordinarily once a year. The Diocese of Florida is presently in transition between bishops, so the date of the next visitation will follow from the election and consecration rather than from the usual calendar. We will announce it as soon as it is set, and preparation will begin in good time before it.
The fourth door
Transfer
If you are already a confirmed member of another Episcopal parish, your membership can simply follow you here. Email Jeni Trinidad with the name and location of your previous church, and she will request the letter of transfer on your behalf, along with the dates of your baptism and confirmation.
You do not need to make the request yourself, and you do not need to have left on any particular terms. Jeni will email you once the transfer is complete, and from that point you are a member here with every part that goes with it.
Where to begin
Whichever of the four applies to you, the first step is the same: a conversation with Noelle Pecora, our Director of Parish Engagement. There is nothing to prepare and no question too small, including the ones you suspect you ought to know the answer to already.
Email NoelleTransferring from another Episcopal parish? Email Jeni Trinidad instead, and she will take it from there.