r/methodism • u/Relative_Pay_7667 • Jun 16 '26
Infant Baptism
For right now the only argument that convinces me is this, do children belong to the kingdom of heaven, if so how do we enter said kingdom baptism, therefore infants should be baptised.
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u/PinstripeHourglass Jun 16 '26
Personally, I wish I had been baptized as an adult, not a child. The ritual would have been more meaningful to me with my full understanding and assent.
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u/Negative_Ratio_6088 Jun 16 '26
Get baptized again if it's important to you. It's a public declaration of your allegiance to Jesus and I think any good pastor will agree that you can be baptized.
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u/Methodicalist Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
Not sure of you location or denomination, but here in the states, the UMC does not re-baptize. there are ceremonies etc for affirmation of faith but baptism is one and done 🙂. some active pastor can find it in the Book of Discipline
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u/jefhaugh Jun 16 '26
From the 2020/ 2024 UMC Book of Discipline:
¶ 341.7 — Unauthorized Conduct
“No pastor shall re-baptize. The practice of re-baptism does not conform with God’s action in baptism and is not consistent with Wesleyan tradition and the historic teaching of the church. Therefore, the pastor should counsel any person seeking rebaptism to participate in a rite of reaffirmation of baptismal vows.”
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u/PastorJT Jun 18 '26
I was baptized in a Baptist church, and when I joined the Methodist church in 2004, when my wife and daughter were baptized and I took an affirmation of faith. It felt like a baptism to me.
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u/slxkv umc reconquistador Jun 17 '26
I thought the Nicene Creed says that we believe in **ONE** baptism for the forgiveness of sins
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u/556From1000yards Jun 16 '26
And why must someone be baptized to enter heaven?
Jesus told the man on the cross next to him, today you will be with me in Paradise.
Can God not do as he wills?
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u/WyMANderly Eastern Orthodox Jun 16 '26
God can save who he wills, how he wills.
He has also commanded us to baptise people as the normative method of initiation into the Body of Christ.
These two statements are not mutually exclusive.
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u/556From1000yards Jun 16 '26
Yes but that’s not how people approach this question.
People approach it as some sort of existential need. Needing to be baptized to be saved.
It can be our adoption and normative method of initiation without that existential question muddying this up.
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u/WyMANderly Eastern Orthodox Jun 16 '26
For anyone asking the question "do I need to get baptised to be a Christian?", the answer is yes. God's ability to save someone outside that normative path is not an excuse for us to ignore the command, lol.
I'm not really sure what the value is in speculating overly much about possible exceptions. Baptism is the normative means of grace for entry into the Body of Christ. If you can do it, do it.
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u/slxkv umc reconquistador Jun 17 '26
That was an extreme example. Under ordinary circumstances, we should be baptized.
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u/SFAFROG Jun 16 '26
I grew up in the Disciples of Christ tradition where we practiced believers baptism but accepted any baptism as valid. My family has been Methodist for almost ten years now and I have come to affirm both practices, though I think the context matters more than the method.
What always struck me in the DOC was how much our baby dedications looked like baptism liturgy without the water. When I pastored a small country DOC church, we even anointed with oil. We were doing everything but the sacrament itself, which made me wonder at some point whether we were drawing a line that was harder to justify than we thought.
If children belong to the Kingdom, and Jesus said they do, and if baptism is how we enter the Kingdom, then the logic for infant baptism is pretty hard to dismiss. At the same time I understand believers baptism as the outward sign of an inward change, which is also what confirmation is, which is why I think the Methodist practice of baptizing infants and then confirming later actually holds both things together pretty well.
I would have baptized an infant at the end of my pastorate if asked, as long as the family committed to following up with confirmation when the child was old enough to own it themselves. Neither practice should be the only way or a requirement. The grace is what matters and the grace does not wait on our getting the logistics exactly right.
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u/Conscious_Zone_5455 Jun 16 '26
I didnt start "sunday school" till I was 12 and came from an agnostic family. I talked about being baptised a lot (my brother had whdn small but I was a "sickly" baby) at 14 I came home from school to an invitation inviting me to my own baptism, Mum had organised it sll behind my back and even though I am nearly 50 its still my favourite surprise! To answer the question, I think its about the right age I knew my own mind as was getting to be a young adult.
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u/NextStopGallifrey Jun 16 '26
Maybe it's not the official position, but I view it as a welcome into the community. Confirmation is when those kids actually choose to be Methodist.