Baptism
We believe that the baptism we read about in the Bible involves “full immersion” in water, Paul writes that as we go into the water it is a picture of our dying to our old life and that coming out of the water is a picture of our being born again in Jesus (read Romans 6:4, Colossians 2:12). Therefore when we baptise someone, it involves getting very wet!
We do not baptise infants, because we believe that baptism is a choice that a candidate makes for him/her self and that a baby is not able to make such a choice. We do not put a lower age limit on who we will baptise, but we do use the following rules:
If the candidate is a minor (i.e. under 18) we make absolutely sure that their parents/guardians give their permission to the baptism.
For younger children, we take steps to ensure that the child is completely aware of the significance of this action, and we involve their parents with every step of the process.
Baptism is :
-
- an outward sign of something that has happened inside.
- dependent on faith in Christ, not membership of the church.
- for all Christians -not those who have reached a higher level of perfection.
- an outward sign of the inward realities of a change of heart, a new direction in life and a new beginning in Christ.
