Here is a short statement of what Presbyterians believe about baptism and a quick walk-through of the liturgy with which we normally celebrate baptisms.

We Baptize Adults

We Baptize Babies

We also baptize babies. The reformed churches believe that, in infant baptism, God gathers the child into His covenant with the parents and therefore within a specific community of believing Christians. By this means, the child becomes a member of Christ’s universal church.

We know that the baby does not profess the Christian faith. Rather, parents who profess the Christian faith desire their children to be included in God’s covenant, made with all who give themselves to Him through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In this respect, infant baptism resembles infant circumcision amongst Jews: It declares, “We believe and practice our faith, and we want our child to be a recognizable part of the same community.”

Early in the service, we ask the parents,

Relying on God’s grace,
do you promise to live the Christian faith
and to teach that faith to your children?
     Parents: I do.

In answering this question, they commit themselves to tasks of Christian living and nurture that they can perform only through active participation in a Christian congregation.

Going Public with Christian Identity

That is why we ask the baby’s parents to declare their identity as believing and practicing Christians. Prior to the actual baptizing, we ask them to answer in the affirmative the very questions we put to all who make their own profession of faith. We introduce those questions this way:

Minister: Through baptism,
we enter the covenant God has established.
In that covenant, God gives us new life,
guards us from evil,
and nurtures us with his love
and with the love of his people.
In embracing that covenant,
we choose whom we will serve
     by turning from evil
     and turning to Jesus Christ.
I ask you, therefore, to reject sin,
to profess your faith in Christ Jesus,
and to confess the faith of the church,
the faith in which we baptize.

And here are the actual questions:

Minister: Trusting in the gracious mercy of God,
do you turn from the ways of sin
and renounce evil and its power in the world?
     Parents: I do.
Who is your Lord and Savior?
     Parents: Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.
Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple,
obeying his Word and showing his love?
     Parents: I will, with God’s help.

In answering these questions, the parents declare themselves Christian believers through repentance, confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, and acceptance of Christian discipline and service.

The parents, along with the congregation, will then confess the Christian faith using the words of the Apostles’ Creed. (This is a very early statement of what Christians believe and originated in the early church as a creed for use at baptism.)

The baptism itself is with the sprinkling of water, three times, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We also make the Sign of the Cross on the child’s forehead, saying,

Child of the covenant,
I mark you with the sign of the cross.
You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism
and marked as Christ’s own forever.

The assisting elder then says,

This child is now baptized into Jesus Christ
and is received by Christ’s appointment
into his one, holy, universal church.
Let us welcome the newly baptized.

The congregation replies,

With joy and thanksgiving,
we welcome you into Christ’s church.
We will nurture one another in faith,
uphold one another in prayer,
and encourage one another in service.

Baptisms, whether adult or infant, are always services of great joy. Jesus said that there was more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than there is over ninety-nine righteous people (Luke 15:7). And we rejoice on earth as well to see adults going public with their identity as Christians and parents with their children engaging themselves deeply in the life of a congregation of Christ’s church. As an old gospel song puts it, “There’s a new name written down in glory! And it’s mine!”

Parents wishing that their children be baptized should, first of all, speak with the minister and, if not already doing so, begin attending our worship services.