Baptism

If you would like your child to be baptized at our church, you are invited into Sunday worship. Then, you would make an appointment with Pastor Sungmu Lee for the introductory meeting for baptism. At the meeting Pastor Lee converses with the parents to know their religious background, reason to choose our church, understanding of the Christian baptism, plan to raise the child, and so on.

To help to prepare for the baptism faithfully, here are the five chief New Testament metaphors of baptism:

1. Union with Jesus Christ

• Baptism conveys to each one baptized both the death of Jesus and the possibility of resurrection through him.
• The ancient practice of designing baptisteries so as to suggest a going down into and rising from a watery grave is a way to make literal this sharing in Christ’s death and resurrection.

2. Incorporation into the church, Christ’s body

• Baptism is the sign-act of entrance into the church no matter at what age it is practiced.
• In some Christian traditions, baptismal fonts are placed near the entrance to church buildings, and some rites involve an entrance procession into the midst of the building and people.

3. New Birth

• Closely tied to union with Christ in death and resurrection and to joining a new body, the church, the image of new birth appears in Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus: “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born from water and spirit” (John 3:3).
• New birth is the most feminine of images, and some fonts have been designed to suggest a pregnant woman.
• Baptism is spoken of as both womb and tomb.

4. Forgiveness of Sin

• The most obvious thing about baptism is the cleansing action of water representing the forgiveness of sin.
• Both 1Peter and Hebrews compare baptism with an outward washing and the inward cleansing of a good conscience.

5. Reception of the Holy Spirit

• Jesus’ own baptism has a theophany of the Holy Spirit visible as a dove.
• Sometimes, the coming of the Holy Spirit seems manifested most clearly by the laying on of hands.

After the introductory meeting, as Pastor Lee has the confidence that the parents will raise their child based on Christian faith and practice, he will schedule the date for the baptism. In the meantime, the pastor and the family prepare for the baptism faithfully with prayers.

If you have any questions about baptism, please contact Pastor Lee.