Baptism

First Baptist Church practices Believer’s Baptism by immersion after a person has made a personal decision to follow Jesus Christ and profess their faith in Him as Lord. Is this the next step in your faith journey?

The Christian practice of baptism is rooted in both the example and the command of Jesus Christ. While baptism has a broad range of meanings and functions, here at First Baptist Church we emphasize three primary dimensions: conversion, identification, and membership.

The first baptisms were performed “for the forgiveness of sins,” (Mark 1:4) and it continues to be the primary sign of repentance and conversion. While the water does not carry sin away itself (only the mercy of God can do that), it is still a powerfully symbolic act. Baptism represents the washing clean of one’s heart and it is often – after a period of instruction in the basics of Christian faith – one of the first public acts of a new follower of Jesus.

Baptism is always a public ritual because another layer of its meaning involves identification with Jesus. By submitting himself to baptism, Jesus demonstrated his willingness to be in solidarity with human beings, and baptism immerses human beings in the liberating life and death of Jesus. By experiencing our own symbolic death and resurrection in the waters of baptism we are saturated in the grace of God and announce our intentions to imitate closely the life of Jesus.

And in imitating Jesus, we are also made a part of his mystical body, the Church. We are received into a new family, one which extends across space and time and connects us to everyone else who has ever been baptized. Baptism here at FBC also usually confers formal membership in our particular congregation, and membership means, among other things, the rights to vote on church business and hold elected leadership positions. More importantly, membership signals a deepening sense of belonging and commitment. By making us a part of Christ, baptism also makes us part of each other.

If you recently decided to follow Jesus, baptism is likely a good next step on your spiritual journey. If you’d like to know more about the period of instruction, the act itself, or any other questions you may have, please contact one of our pastors and they’ll be delighted to talk it over with you.

(We do not, for the record, believe that those from other Christian traditions need to be re-baptized to join ours, so if you’re new to FBC but not new to Jesus we believe your baptism is good and welcome your membership among us. If you’d like help remembering your baptism as an infant, dedicating yourself to some new vocation, or even, in rare cases, exploring the possibility of re-baptism, you are also invited to reach out to Aaron or Jackson to begin that conversation, too.)