Journey Into The Unknown, part 11

In my last post I said that Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church (CCPC) satisfies the five criteria listed in part 6 for what we are searching for in a new church home. In almost every significant area there is very little difference between Baptists and Presbyterians.

The one major difference is with baptism. I’ll explain the Baptist position later as I outline my own journey (of another kind) regarding baptism.

Presbyterians, like a number of other denominations, baptize infants. This rite is seen as welcoming the child into the covenant relationship of the church. It is compared to circumcision as the covenantal rite of inclusion in the Old Testament.

Since this baptism is not seen as a means of salvation, the focus is on the faith and commitment of the parents and the church to raise the child in the knowledge of the Lord. Then later as the child grows, he or she will hopefully profess a personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

At CCPC I understand that sometimes by parental choice the infant is not “baptized” but the rite is instead referred to as a “dedication” and is performed without water. In these cases also, the focus is on the faith of the parents and their desire to raise the child in the church so eventually he or she will make an individual profession of faith in Christ. This “dedication” is no different from what is done in many Baptist churches.

This is where the churches affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) helpfully clarify matters for Christians coming from other denominations. The beliefs shared by churches in the EPC focus on what they call “The Essentials”. Built on the foundational belief that the Bible is the Word of God, the seven Essentials are those core Christian beliefs that the Church has taught for 2,000 years—the ones that are critical if one is to meet the traditional criteria for acceptance into the Christian Church.

Knowing that the various denominations within the worldwide Church differ on some matters, the EPC distinguishes the Essentials from “non-essentials”. One of those “non-essentials” is baptism—how it is administered (i.e. by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling) and when it is administered (in infancy or later when the believer makes a personal profession of faith). The point there is that since baptism is not necessary for salvation, good Christian people can differ about the particulars of baptism and still serve together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

I will outline my own personal journey of understanding about baptism in the next post. For now, I can join a church like CCPC that is definitely not a Baptist church with respect to its practice of baptism (although a youth or adult who accepts Christ will be baptized and may request baptism by immersion) and be confident that I am not sacrificing an “essential” doctrine.