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Baptism is a time when God makes awesome
promises and does awesome things to the one Baptized – infant or adult.
It is also a time when the people who are St. John’s make promises
to walk with the Baptized in the faith. If the Baptized is a child,
the congregation also makes strong promises to partner with the parents
in helping them raise the child in faith. The congregation gives
gifts – a Baptism Candle to celebrate this event yearly, a
Faith Chest that is lovingly hand-crafted to serve as the suitcase
for the Baptized’s Journey of Faith.
St. John’s will also
eventually give at least three Bibles at various stages as a child grows
in faith in our midst.
Because we take Baptism seriously and
respect what God is doing in the Sacrament, St. John’s requires parental
participation in one Baptism Orientation Session prior to a child’s
Baptism. These are scheduled monthly, and parents may attend several
months before the birth of their child or between the birth and their
scheduled Baptism date. At this session one of the pastors will
lead a brief Bible study over some of what Jesus, Peter, and Paul say
about Baptism as well as describe and read through the actual Baptism
service. Dates of the next Baptism Orientation Sessions are always
printed in the Newsletter. You may also receive them by phoning
the church office at 634-7110.
Older children or adults who seek Baptism
usually meet several times with a pastor to learn individually about
Baptism as well as discuss this point in their journey of faith.
Finally, Baptism is a community event.
It is a Sacrament of Jesus’ Church and not simply a private inoculation.
The Family of God is involved and has promises to make. For this
reason all Baptisms are celebrated within a worship service of the St.
John’s congregation. This can be on Sundays, Wednesdays,
or whenever the St. John’s congregation gathers to worship.
Because of time constraints, however, we are not able to schedule Baptisms
on weeks when we also celebrate Holy Communion during worship.
Therefore, Baptisms are not normally scheduled on the 1st
and 3rd Sundays or Wednesdays of each month.
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