BAPTISM ======= From: AB To: hcdl@shore.net Subject: baptism CD wrote: > (How can we > start a thread on what to do about baptism... infant and otherwise in > house churches..... I have no Idea) Good topic, CD -- and one I don't think we've ever discussed on HCDL. I'll tell you about our experience at Salem Community Church, and maybe others can talk about how their house churches do baptisms. Here at SCC, we usually do baptisms about once a year. Sometimes, it's been at a community picnic down at the ocean (*very* cold) and more recently, it's been in the lake during our annual church retreat (which, BTW, we didn't do last year -- and got *lots* of flack from the kids about this). We all stand on the beach, and the people who are going to be baptized come forward. Then, we have two people speak to those being baptized. One talks about Satan, and what the baptiz-ees are turning away from; the other then talks about God, and what the baptiz-ees are turning toward. After that, the people being baptized wade out into waist-deep water, where two people (often WX and YZ, because we can convince them to put on bathing suits and go into the water when it's cold) do the actual baptism by dunking each of the baptizees. After that, everyone comes out of the water, and we give them towels and applaud and pray. It's very much a time of celebration. All of this is with people who are old enough to verbally tell us that they want to be baptized and follow Jesus. For infants, we generally make some sort of fuss the first time they come to church with their parents. Sometimes, we simply put the parents and the baby into the middle of the room and we all lay hands on them and pray for them. Other times, it may be something a bit more planned, with people reading Bible verses or poems or passages from a special book. So, how about the rest of you who are in home churches. What do you do? AB * * * * * To: hcdl@shore.net From: EF Subject: Re: HCDL: baptism Greetings all, Baptism in home church, we haven't too much experience! However when one couple got baptized they asked a friend (christian) if they could use her swimming pool. It was a Saturday afternoon, and a real time of celebration. They invited parents and friends (non-christian), we had a meal all together and much testimony was given to the goodness of God. I don't think we have any set way to baptize, each time would probably be different respecting the desires of whoever was being baptized. Many blessings, EF * * * * * From: GH To: hcdl@shore.net Subject: Re: HCDL: baptism Hello all, Baptisms have been pretty spontaneous here. One night a person surrendered their heart to the Lord and we just filled up the bathtub and went for it. Her husband helped her in and out of the tub and we all prayed together and celebrated. We got a really big bathroom. Another time we went to a Holidome together as a fellowship for the weekend and we baptized a couple in the hot tub. It is nice when you recognise that we are all priests in the body of Christ and you don't have to be official or wait for an official to do such excellent things together. The bonding of doing these type of things together is priceless. Love, GH * * * * * From: IJ To: hcdl@shore.net Subject: Re: HCDL: baptism We had our first baptism this summer. Two people were baptized in a backyard swimming pool. One was a fifteen year old girl who requested that her foster parents baptize her. The other was a man who requested that his wife and son-in-law baptize him. We sang songs and read scripture around the pool. The baptizees (?) each shared of their love for God and their desire to share in His baptism. After the baptism, a couple had planned to renew their marriage vows and one of the brothers performed the ceremony. We then cooked out and had a celebration of singing, eating and swimming. We had a lot of people there from "traditional" church and many unbelievers along with everyone from our house church group. Everyone I spoke with said it was a wonderful day. It really was and I'm sure our Father was pleased! In Him, IJ * * * * * From: JK To: hcdl@shore.net Subject: Re: HCDL: baptism To all at HCDL, GH, loved your post on this. We've done similar. We encourage people to be baptized as soon as they know they want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, by whoever was instrumental in that process and wherever we can find water to do it. Either the person who led them to Christ or someone that is being helpful to them become established inthe faith does the honors with others gathered around for prayer. We encourage kids to wait until their 12ish so that they understand what else the world offers in that regard, and usually refer to Jesus being presented at the temple then, or waiting until he was 30, even though he was a follower of God long before that. We've baptized in pools, lakes, hot tubs, and even once in the dead of winter in a bath tub not deep enough for immersion so we poured a whole panful of water over the heads while we prayed for them. We don't even make it a point of our meeting. Sometimes its just a few folks that get together for an evening celebrating someone's new birth. Its fun stuff. Lifechanging. Powerful. JK * * * * * From: LM To: hcdl@shore.net Subject: Re: HCDL: baptism GH wrote: > > Hello all, > > Baptisms have been pretty spontaneous here. One night a person surrendered > their heart to the Lord and we just filled up the bathtub and went for it. > Her husband helped her in and out of the tub and we all prayed together and > celebrated. We got a really big bathroom. Another time we went to a > Holidome together as a fellowship for the weekend and we baptized a couple in > the hot tub. It is nice when you recognise that we are all priests in the > body of Christ and you don't have to be official or wait for an official to > do such excellent things together. The bonding of doing these type of things > together is priceless. > > Love, > > GH: After longing to be with our healing ministry in Israel right now ( we are not), and experiencing another baptism in The Jordan River, your posted note was a message from heaven itself. How scriptually correct you are to spontaneously help another reborn soul die to self with Y'shua and rise again all spotless, a child of the Kingdom. Jesus healed, preached, shared himself & taught wherever & whenever as the moment beckoned as He was "invited". Praise God for disciples such as you & your family of God for following Him & the apostles of the 1st church without all the traditional accouterments when appropriate. Your shared experience helped me focus once again on what the objective is and not necessarily, the means. Thanx much, LM * * * * * From: NP To: hcdl@shore.net Subject: HCDL: Re: : baptism Hey, all- We have a disintegrating hot tub in our back yard that has become a baptistry. We have done several there as a part of larger celebration. We have also gone to a nearby lake and shared the celebration there. We sometimes labor with the issue of baptism since it has become a bit obscured with cultral baggage. Many view baptism with a bit of a cavalier attitude, as though it were a minor formality instead of a major commandment of the Lord Himself. Because of that we sometimes feel that we should baptize with care, making certain that those who request it understand that it includes a horizontal component as a well as a vertical one. We hesitate to baptize if we are not certain that the person is committed to being with us as a community for awhile. I am not implying that baptism isn't larger than one local expression of The Church, but that without a community in which to live out the implications of baptism, it becomes mere theatrics. We feel a bit of obligation to provide an environment for growth after baptism, so we are reluctant baptize if future involvement with the person doesn't seem certain. Perhaps other communities wrestle with similar concerns. -- NP * * * * * From: QR To: hcdl@shore.net Subject: HCDL: Re: : baptism -Reply NP wrote... > We feel a bit of obligation to >provide an environment for growth after baptism, so we are reluctant >baptize if future >involvement with the person doesn't seem certain. Great stuff.... We are not and never were meant to be a bunch of individuals who accasional bump into each other at church functions. We are a family with Christ as our leader. Do you guys have the MR Men childrens books over in the States.... and elsewhere? We have a series of Kids books here about different personalitys in life.. MR happy, Mr tall, Mr skinny, Ms Forget-me-not, Ms sunshine etc etc. I don't think the family of God was meant to be a bunch of MR Bumps attending functions and mearly bumping each other. If you bump someone you don't affect the other person at all, you politely apoligize , and your off again for your next bump. No NO NO..... we were meant to have huge affects on each other with the gifts God has given us. How is this related to Baptism? You get baptised into the body of Christ. That means commitment and affecting each other grow into maturity! Sometimes this hurts as iron sharpens iron! ____________________ From: ST Reply-To: hcdl@shore.net To: hcdl@shore.net Subject: Re: HCDL: Re: : baptism Dear LM, This is ST. I believe John 3, especially the verses from 22 on, support your possition rather well. Reading through Acts I have been struck by the idea that it is an account of what God is doing. There just isn't all that much about what the people do except in relation to how it is a response to God. This encourages me to have confidence in God to do the work so that we needn't put our confidence in the structures we create. I do see us as having a responsibility to respond to God and he could very well call us to nurture new believers but it is ever so important that it is in that order and not out of some fascination with facilitating God's deeds to, well, you know, help him out, so to speak. I know I love to run with a good idea and try to shore up all the walls. This gives me cause to reflect on that and our institutions. Baptism is the beginning, a beginning with few restaints and there is time to come in which to deepen understanding, gain insight, and grow. Most often here in Salem Community Church, when we baptize it is in the context of the community. But I see it doesn't have to be limited to that. I do like the rich symbolism we use that AB describe in an earlier post. But it does sound like the desire to be baptized and some water is all that is needed for this marvelous act of transformation. ____________________ eof -- Last updated 12/28/97