Can I get my child baptised if I’m not a member of the church?
The way I see it - when you bring your children to be baptised you are asking to be a member of the church. So yes - you’re welcome to join the church and get your children baptised all at once.
When parents bring their children to be baptised we ask them to publicly make the following commitments:
I ask you now to respond to God's love and grace to your child / children by making these promises:
Will you love these your children, caring for them in body, mind and spirit?
Will you ensure that they are nurtured in the faith and life of the Christian community?
Will you set before them a Christian example, that through your prayers, words and deeds, they may learn the way of Christ?
With God's help we will.
The minister says to the godparents:
Will you help these parents to nurture their children in the Christian faith?
With God's help we will.
Will you love these your children, caring for them in body, mind and spirit?
I always remind prospective parents of children to be baptized that they are very good at making sure their children are cared for in body and mind. Planning education, diet, healthy activities etc. But the greatest worry is ‘spirit’.
Are we nurturing our children spiritually?
Teaching them to pray?
Teaching them to worship?
Teaching them to serve God?
Helping them to realise that they are not just body and mind, but they are soul too.
Will you ensure that they are nurtured in the faith and life of the Christian community?
We live in the age of individuality and isolation - but Jesus calls us into community. Jesus teaches enemies to sit together around the same table and share bread and wine. Jesus says to the most deplorable sinners: “Your sins are forgiven…” Jesus calls us to be together with those whom he loves - and not just the people that we love.
To be a Christian community we need to learn to be a diverse group of people together. People who speak different languages, think different thoughts - and occupy different economic positions.
This is not easy; it goes against our better judgment sometimes. Jesus calls us to make an effort to be a part of something greater than ourselves.
We do this by creating a church community. Old and young, rich and poor, black, white, normal and odd who gather together as often as possible to break bread, to pray and to hear God’s word together.
We do this by creating a Sunday School and Youth Groups where children can meet together to learn worship and grow.
Most of the people who ask if their children can be baptised are not currently part of a Christian community.
Having babies tends to isolate people. Sunday morning is that one chance to sleep in - to clean up - to rest and restore. Being part of Christian community becomes too difficult a burden to bear.
In short - we expect you to be a member of the church in order to make this commitment. The good news - we have low standards and high expectations.
Our high expectations: You devote yourself to becoming Christ-like and you help others to do the same.
CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP
3.1. The conditions, privileges and duties of membership in the Methodist Church follow the tradition common to the Methodist People from the beginning. Membership is not conditional upon the profession of theological tenets, or dependent upon traditional authority or ecclesiastical ritual. It is based upon a personal experience of the Lord Jesus Christ, brought about by the Spirit, ranging from the earliest signs of Divine Grace in the soul to its crowning blessedness in the joy of ‘perfect love’, and upon a sharing of such gifts of grace with others seeking or enjoying a similar experience.
3.2. All persons are welcomed into membership who sincerely desire to be saved from their sins through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and show the same in life and conduct, and who seek to have communion with Christ Himself and His people by taking up the duties and privileges of the Methodist Church.
According to my interpretation of the above, if you can answer yes to these questions - you count as a member:
Do you want to be more like Jesus?
Do you need all the help you can get?
Do you want to be all the help you can be?
Even if you haven’t been to church for the last 20 years - you are always welcome back. Life with kids is crazy busy - but we’d love it if we could help each other along the way.
By coming to church as regularly as possible you do an important part of what you promise to do when you bring your child to be baptised:
1 - Care for them in body, mind and spirit.
2 - Nurture them in the faith and life of Christian Community.
3 - …
The third commitment we ask you to make is the hardest:
Will you set before them a Christian example, that through your prayers, words and deeds, they may learn the way of Christ?
This is the hardest thing that we parents are asked to do - not just to to tell them about Jesus - but to show them what Jesus is like through our words and deeds. Our children’s first impressions of God come through our example. To do this difficult task we need all the help we can get and Jesus offers us all the help we need:
Through the renewing power of God the Holy Spirit.
Through reading the scriptures and praying.
Through supporting each other in a diverse Christian community as we gather to worship God and share communion.
None of us are ‘there yet’ but we’re all a work in progress.
Before the Baptism
Before the baptism those bringing their children to be baptised and the whole congregation affirm the following together:
Do you turn away from evil and all that denies God;
And do you turn to God trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour,
and in the Holy Spirit as Helper and Guide?
And do you turn to God trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour,
and in the Holy Spirit as Helper and Guide?
By the grace of God I do.
To everyone present:
Do you believe in God the Father, creator of heaven and Earth?
We do.
Do you believe in his Son, Jesus Christ, who redeemed humankind?
We do.
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies the people of God?
We do.
Together we confess our faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and we commit to resisting evil and allowing Jesus, our saviour to be our rescuer and the Holy Spirit to be our guide.
Our confession of faith in Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a summary of the Apostle’s Creed - an ancient summary statement of the faith of the earliest Christians:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Please speak to me or contact the office if you would like to have your child baptised. Baptism services take place at least once every three months at any of our three services on a Sunday.
God bless,
Rev Angus Kelly
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