Posted on 05/06/2015 6:08:12 AM PDT by Gamecock
There are plenty of Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodist churches in Dayton, Ohio, where parents could have an infant child baptized.
But one local couple wanted Rodney Kennedy to baptize their 7-month-old son, even though they knew there was one hurdle to overcome: Kennedy is pastor at First Baptist Church in Dayton.
And Baptists — both generally and specifically — do not baptize infants.
“We knew that asking Rod, he might say no,” said Lucas, the boy’s father who requested only his first name be used in this article.
But Kennedy did not say no, and during worship on Sunday, April 19, he conducted his and his church’s first-ever infant baptism.
“And the congregation burst into applause,” Kennedy told Baptist News Global. “And they don’t applaud much.”
But the time between the request and Kennedy’s “yes” was filled with a month of prayer and discussion between the pastor and leaders of the American Baptist Churches USA congregation.
And informing all of that has been years of increasingly liturgical practice for the church and Kennedy, who describes himself as “somewhat Catholic-Baptist.”
“I already accepted the validity of infant baptism and we don’t make people get baptized” if they were baptized as infants before joining First Baptist, he said.
Since that’s been the church policy for 50 years, Kennedy said it made sense for him to participate in the practice, too.
Even so, Kennedy said the rite had a different feel to it than most baptisms.
“There was an overpowering sense that this was the right thing to do, and there was a sense of God’s presence there,” he said. “It was just a really high and holy moment.”
Only two people have sent him emails outlining traditional Baptist teaching on baptism, he added.
A communal act
The baby’s parents were more than familiar with those teachings. Neither grew up Baptists, but both belonged to traditions that held strongly to the practice of believer’s baptism, Lucas said.
Moving on from those churches to ones with liturgical practices led them to First Baptist. The congregation hosts a number of liturgical services and practices.
“A lot of times when people think about baptism, their first thoughts are about the individual and their salvation — the individual getting to heaven,” he said. “But there is much more about baptism than that.”
Baptism is a communal act through which one is claimed by God into the church as the body of Christ, he said.
More than a symbol
Baptist theologian Beth Newman said she hopes Kennedy’s action will spark conversations in Baptist and wider Christian life about those deeper meanings of Baptism.
“As Christians, we want to say baptism is this one event, but it’s also a way of life,” said Newman, a professor of theology and ethics at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.
That was also Newman’s goal in contributing a chapter on baptism in Gathering Together: Baptists at Work in Worship, a 2013 book co-edited by Kennedy.
She wanted to help Baptists see baptism as more than “just a symbol” and to avoid dismissing sacramental views of baptism as Catholic.
“I would say you cannot be baptized apart from the community,” Newman said. “We are baptized into the community — not just into a congregation — but into the whole church.”
Kennedy is the first Baptist pastor Newman said she’s known to baptize and infant. By far, believer’s baptism is the norm among Baptists.
However, many also recognize the need to bring infants into the church.
“A lot of Baptist churches [are doing] baby dedications, which are a way of welcoming the child into the family — though not the membership — of the church,” she said.
Newman said most of the conversations about baptism she’s heard occur in forums hosted by organizations like the Baptist World Alliance.
“It’s not so much in the local congregations,” she said.
But the infant baptism at First Baptist Church in Dayton may help change that.
“Let’s try to talk so we can … understand the richness that baptism has for all of us,” she said.
Moving closer
There was a lot of that kind of discussion at First Baptist for weeks before Kennedy’s decision to go ahead with the baptism.
One topic included the church’s policy, for the past five decades, to welcome new adult members who had been baptized as infants in other traditions — and without re-baptizing them.
They also agreed the Baptist norm is valid and biblical. Kennedy said he is not trying to change that approach but to open a new chapter.
“I want to move closer to the ecumenical fellowship of the Christian church and by accepting infant baptism, and then practicing it, we are not set off from Presbyterians and Methodists and Catholics,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said he turned down another request for an infant baptism because the parents weren’t members of First Baptist, or willing to join.
That highlights another facet of the his view about infant baptism.
“The purpose of this baptism is for parents to make serious promises and for God to claim him in his grace-filled Kingdom,” Kennedy said. “Baptism is just the beginning of a lifetime process.”
'A disciple of Jesus'
Those promises include a vow to raise the child in the Christian faith and to renounce evil. The text of the ceremony came from the Book of Common Prayer.
Parents unwilling or unable to make those commitments will not have their infants baptized at First Baptist, Kennedy said.
“It won’t be our normative practice,” he said. “But it is an open possibility for parents if they request it.”
Last Sunday, Kennedy held the infant over a small bowl of warm water, used his hands to cup and pour the water over the baby’s head. He also anointed the child with oil and made the sign of cross on his forehead in name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
“Our decision was that whether the baptism or the confession of faith comes first, doesn’t matter,” he said. “Either way you end up with a person who is a disciple of Jesus.”
Hey Baptists: Is this how y'all see Baptism, as "just a symbol"?
What did the babe repent of?
America started in the pulpits and will end in her pulpits.
Just another sign where the whole thing is heading.
Was there a baptizing pool in the manger?
What a marroon. He’s now contradicted the basic baptism rituals of Catholics AND Baptists.
I grew up in an American Baptist Church. It’s quite liberal and not your typical Baptist church.
Hey Baptists: Is this how y’all see Baptism, as “just a symbol”?
_________________________________________
I would say yes. Yes they do. They don’t teach it is necessary unto salvation, so why not baptize an infant.
If it makes no difference if an adult is baptized, then it makes no difference if a baby is baptized.
What are you the Inquisition? Baptist doctrine on baptism is not a secret, is the source of their name, and the question you just asked was asked by papists shortly before they slaughtered Baptists men, women, and children.
It is a very important symbol. It’s a Christ ordained testimony of identification with Him and His local church. It’s not to be done until after salvation (per the scripture).
Our local large Baptist Church accepts infant baptisms and sprinkling now. They don’t practice it but you can join the church without being full immersed.
You don’t know Baptist doctrine on baptism and the history of the Baptist denomination. It is obviously NOT necessary for salvation. It’s just water. It has no magical powers. However, public profession and identification with Christ IS necessary for church membership. Since the local church is body Christ ordained for His ministry in this dispensation, God blesses those bodies through is immutable Word. In other words, there’s Holy Spirit privilege in being a member of local church. You can only be a member by salvation first, baptism second.
Baptists were executed by the Pope for rejecting infant baptism? It’s how we got our name. You should really change your church’s name.
My impression of the denomination is that in terms of orthodoxy it is equivalent to the United Methodist Church; for example, its stand on homosexual issues can be found here.
When I UMC back in the '80s, the youth director at our church was ABC, and she had no problems with the infant baptisms at the church.
Baptists have a Dedication Ceremony for infants. The parents promise to raise their child according to beliefs of the Baptist church. When the child is mature enough to accept Jesus as his personal savior then they are Baptized.
Too bad that so-called "pastor" doesn't understand that, nor, if he knew the truth, would teach his congregation that the rite of baptism is for sinners (babies?) who recognize their need of a Savior, pray a prayer of that repentance and ask Jesus to forgive them and live with them forever.
That did not happen in this instance and therefore no matter how that "pastor," the parents nor the "applauding audience" felt, nothing biblical happened.
How can I not know Baptist doctrine on baptism when you just agreed on what I just said? Whatever. What YOU don't know is CHRISTIAN doctrine. That from the example of Christ, to the Great Commission, to Acts 2:38 when the church began, to the teachings of Peter, Paul and the Apostles and well, just EVERYWHERE in the Bible, we see the COMMAND to be baptized unto salvation.
Sorry, but your "Billy Graham" doctrine against baptism is wrong.
Where in scripture does is specifically say you must be baptized to be saved?
Baptism is a man-made work. You must be born again of Spirit to be Saved. The “water” John talks about in John 3:5 is the cleansing of the Holy Spirit. Just like in Isaiah 44:3 and Ezekiel 36:25-27.
Read Titus 3:5 (Same context as above)....do you think baptism is necessary for salvation based on that?
We are told to be Baptized, because it’s the right thing to do, but it’s not necessary to be Saved in Christ. He did all the work for us, we obey Him by being baptized.
Hmmm...a non-Baptist Baptist. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see it in the American Baptist Churches USA.
“Hey Baptists: Is this how y’all see Baptism, as “just a symbol”?
Depends. It is the outward sign of the inward baptism of the Holy Spirit done by Jesus to unite us to Himself. It is a requirement for membership in every baptist church I’ve been in. But water baptism doesn’t save anyone. Repent and Believe. Baptism FOLLOWS that. Since an infant cannot repent and believe, baptists do not baptize infants.
We are cleansed by the blood, not by the water. As scripture teaches.
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