Baptism & Communion

Let’s face it.There is a lot of disagreement on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper within the Church. But we wouldn’t be honest if we pretended that we didn’t have some serious convictions regarding these two sacraments! So we humbly and joyfully share the following thoughts…

When we approach the New Testament, we see that the two means by which the Church experiences the grace of God  are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Not only does the Church experience God’s grace by these sacraments, but the Church has been commissioned to continue their observance and to worship God by honoring the Word of God by faithfully following its teaching on these subjects. In essence, we find them to be very important aspects of our obedience to God.

Baptism
We believe that Christian Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit; to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect, in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation;

The Lord’s Supper
We believe that the Lord’s Supper (Communion, Eucharist) is where the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and wine, are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination. While Christ’s body is at the right hand of the Father, the Spirit unites things separated in space, raising us up to Christ, and making bread and wine our spiritual food and drink.

Thus, we hold to “Believer’s Baptism” and the “Spiritual Presence” in the Lord’s Supper.

For more information regarding the various positions held by Christians, we recommend Understanding Four Views on the Lord’s Supper and Understanding Four Views on Baptism and Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ.