Baptism

The Presbyterian Church usually practices infant baptism but will also baptise adults who have never been baptised before but who now, by faith, wish to be publicly identified with Christ and his church.

The Presbyterian Church recognises as valid, baptism performed by any other branch of the Christian Church, whether of infants or adults and whether done with a little sprinkling of water or by full immersion.

Baptism is a two-fold symbol.

In the first place, and most importantly, it is a symbol of God's grace. Jesus died so that our sins can be forgiven and the water of baptism is a symbol of the cleansing power of God's Holy Spirit washing away our sin.

This requires some expression of repentance on the part of a candidate for baptism; a heart felt desire to turn away from whatever sin infects our lives (greed, hatred, malice, pride, etc) and to turn towards God in faith and trust, aspiring to do things his way, according to his commandments and instructions in the Bible.

Secondly, baptism is also a symbol of our response of faith towards God, in which we identify ourselves with Jesus who was also baptised, and with his church.

Clearly an infant cannot be expected to participate in either of these parts by its own choice, but God in his grace has indicated in his Holy Word that the relationship he enters into with adults - we call it a covenant relationship - is also effective for their children. So when we baptise infants, we require their parents to profess sincere Christian faith and to make a commitment to participate in the worship and life of the church and to bring their child(ren) up in it.

The vows asked of parents in presenting a child for baptism reflect this ...

1. Do you believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and in Jesus Christ as your saviour and lord?

2. Do you promise, depending on the grace of God, by prayer and example, to bring this child up in the truths and duties of the Christian faith?

For this reason, we cannot baptise the children of parents who are not willing to publicly profess that they believe in Jesus Christ and acknowledge him as their Saviour and Lord, and who are not willing to attend church regularly.