Do Baptists accept into membership people who have undergone believer sprinkling?

[JM]

Sorry if you see it that way....
Why should you be concerned about it anyway?
On that note, bye bye.

...I love the truth. We should be willing to part ways with the understanding that we have come to different conclusions, perfect theology doesn't save, faith in Christ saves...we should be concerned for the truth of the Gospel and that's why it concerns me. It concerns me that relativism is being embraced by Christians when it is plainly secular and plainly false.

jm

 

[Goinheix]

We will usually baptize anyone who asks but I've only heard sprinkling accepted for people who are on their death bed.

Do you really baptize anyone who ask? Dont you go for a period of watching him, a time when he must assist your church for a year or so? Dont you vote in assambly before baptizing anyone?

 

[AndOne]

I know John Bunyan attending a non-conforming church that held to open membership but I didn't know Spurgeon held such a low view of the ordinance of Baptism.

I may be wrong about Spurgeon - now that I am thinking about it - I think he caught heat for wanting presbyterians to preach from the pulpit at his church in London. I'm getting my controversies mixed up...

 

[AndOne]

Do you really baptize anyone who ask? Dont you go for a period of watching him, a time when he must assist your church for a year or so? Dont you vote in assambly before baptizing anyone?

It depends on the local church - not every Baptist church does it the same. But the bottom line - all that is necessary is that you make a profession of faith in Jesus. It's not necessary to run through a year long cathecism before getting baptised - though I'm not adverse to that happening. I wish more churches in the SBC would at least have a 6 wk period of cathecising/teaching/discipleship before baptising someone.

 

[AndOne]

I have dual memberships,Episcopal and So.Baptist. When I was a small child, I was Baptized into the Ep. Church...in 2002, I officially joined the So. Baptist denomination, not dropping my Communion with the Ep.
I was OFFERED, immersion, but I was NEVER told that I had to get "dunked"...I chose to be, anyway.
(You could call me an Episcobapt)...
With the Ep. denomination, as long as you are Baptized, if you wish to join the Communion, all you need is to be "Confirmed" by the Bishop, after going through a series of classes to know what the Communion is about, and what is expected as a member.
My wife is an Episcobapt too.

I come from a similar background - was baptised (as an infant) and confirmed in the Episcopal church.

The difference between you and I is that I have chosen to leave the EP on principal - padeobaptism being a very small part of it. The EP in America has got some serious issues - and as a former episcopalian I make no bones about the fact that it is now an apostate church - totally devoid of the truth of the gospel. I realize that this isn't true of all - but all those who have held to scripture are leaving enmass. The Anglican Church in North America holds promise and I readily embrace those Anglicans as brothers in Christ - but not as a fellow member in the church. I am a Baptist and have shed all ties to anglicanism.

 

[HantsUK]

In the UK, individual Baptist Churches decide their own membership criteria. While many require baptism, others (like mine) accept people based on their profession of faith. However, almost all our members have been baptised by full immersion. We did once baptise someone by sprinkling, but that was a special case. The person was not able get get into the baptistery due to medical/physical issues (and certainly would never have got out).

But the fundamental difference between Anglican christening by sprinkling and Baptist full immersion is not the amount of water involved. Baptists hold that baptism is for believers and that babies are not able to understand. Baptism is witnessing to your own faith - not that of a child's parents, over which the child or baby has no control.

However, sprinkling losses a lot of the imagery of baptism that you get when fully immersed.

However, Anglicans can and do baptise 'adults' (i.e. believers) by full immersion, but are not supposed to baptise someone who was christened as a baby. In the UK, some Evangelical Anglican churches have baptisteries. Others borrow another church. A local Anglican church 'borrows' or holds a joint service with my church (Baptist) to baptise people the 'proper' way - as believers (not babies/young children) by full immersion.

 

[Goinheix]

In the UK, individual Baptist Churches decide their own membership criteria. While many require baptism, others (like mine) accept people based on their profession of faith.

Do you accept to baptize somebody who dont want to be a member?

 

[Goinheix]

Do you really baptize anyone who ask? Dont you go for a period of watching him, a time when he must assist your church for a year or so? Dont you vote in assambly before baptizing anyone?

?

 

[JM]

Do you accept to baptize somebody who dont want to be a member?

NO. If you do not like the church or do not have love for the brethren, why would you expect them to baptize you?
Do not hijack this thread.

 

[Goinheix]

NO. If you do not like the church or do not have love for the brethren, why would you expect them to baptize you?
Do not hijack this thread.

OK. Sorry. I am out.
I do not agree with your answer but as you say I will not hijack this thread.

 

[JM]

Thank you.

 

[PrincetonGuy]

My Baptist denomination practices water baptism of believers by immersion. However, it acknowledges that there are individual differences of conviction and theology within the Christian community and within the congregations belonging to our denomination. Therefore, it is up to the individual congregations belonging to our denomination to decide who may become members of their autonomous congregation.

My pastor believes that the New Testament teaches water baptism of believers by immersion, but he respects the beliefs of those who interpret the Bible differently than he does. He is an exceptionally well-educated man, but he is very much aware that other men with an equal or better education interpret the Bible differently than he does. Therefore, he encourages the congregation to admit to membership any Christian who desires membership and who agrees to respect the beliefs of all of the other members. Consequently, we have in our congregation people representing a wide spectrum of theological thought who love and support one another as we worship God together as one body. Arrogant, disrespectful persons who refuse to repent are escorted out of our Church facility no matter how many times they have been immersed in water.

 

[DeaconDean]

Now you see, I have a problem with what was mentioned just above me.

Not all denominations see baptism in the same light.

One example:

If any one saith, that baptism is free, that is, not necessary unto salvation; let him be anathema.

The Council of Trent, Session 7, On Baptism, Canon V

What the above says is that baptism is required for salvation.

On rare circumstances, Catholic's do leave the Catholic faith. I know several who have after long wrestling, have left the faith and come to the Baptist faith.

I, (and nearly 100% of all baptists) do not believe that one is baptized to be saved. Rather, we are baptized because we have been saved.

So, would it be improper to rebaptized Catholic's because of the "supposedly" wrong view of baptism?

I personally don't think so. And therefore, it would be improper to just accept the rare Catholic just on asking.

JMHO

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[savedfromdistruction]

This question was asked on another forum, "Do Baptists, as a rule, accept into membership people who have undergone believer sprinkling?"

I would say no. Do you know of Baptist [not Anabaptist]churches who accept spinkling?

Usually not. However at the same time the it is not about being sprinkled or dunked. It is about coming from another denomination. Baptist usually will not accept anyone even those who has been properly baptized as a member if they come from another denomination without going through the baptism again. They consider baptism within the denomination as a sign of membership into that denomination. Being baptized in a Baptist church to a Baptist means you are forsaking the other denomination and accepting the Baptist denomination as the right denomination.

 

[EdMa]

What if the individual are too fragile to be fully immerse, are we to deny such individual membership then?

Such as an extremely sick elderly man or woman.

 

[savedfromdistruction]

What if the individual are too fragile to be fully immerse, are we to deny such individual membership then?

Such as an extremely sick elderly man or woman.

First baptism does not save. Second while we should all be members of a local church, in such cases as you have described it is not an absolute. Third to baptize a person with an improper mode of baptism just because we think it should be done does not mean they have been scripturally baptized and it is a waste of time.
Lastly it would be very unlikely that someone that sick would be at church in the first place asking for membership change from one denomination to another.
Although I have seen one time where a new convert asked for it who was on his death bed. I was in a church where a man had been a janitor for years. He was not saved and would not listen. In his later years he developed a very fast growing cancer. This caused him to be open to the gospel. He was on his death bed in the hospital when he made a profession of faith. He was really too sick to be baptized as he could not even walk and expected to die any day.
However he insisted that he wanted to be baptized in the church. Prayer went up for him and for the doctors to let him out to be baptized. The prayer went up on a Wed night and the Lord gave him enough strength by the next Sunday and to come to church, with help, walk into the baptistery and be baptized in front off the whole church. He went back to the hospital and died a few days later.
So yes in a baptist church if the person was not baptized they would not be given membership regardless of the circumstances, but like I said membership is not an absolute in such cases. They would still be loved and cared for as any member, but without the right to vote in the membership.

 

[HantsUK]

Usually not. However at the same time the it is not about being sprinkled or dunked. It is about coming from another denomination. Baptist usually will not accept anyone even those who has been properly baptized as a member if they come from another denomination without going through the baptism again. They consider baptism within the denomination as a sign of membership into that denomination. Being baptized in a Baptist church to a Baptist means you are forsaking the other denomination and accepting the Baptist denomination as the right denomination.

Not so in my experience. Perhaps the USA is different in this regard. What counts is whether the person was baptised as a believer. The church or denomination that performed the baptism is irrelevant (Christ has only one true Church). Being baptised is about following Christ, it is not about denominations. In England, denominational allegiance is fairly weak - when people move, they will often choose a church based on what that church is like, not its denomination.

Some Baptist churches do not require baptism for membership.

 

[HantsUK]

Do you accept to baptize somebody who dont want to be a member?

Interesting question. In my church, when someone is baptised, they would normally be expected to come into membership. Baptism is part of discipleship. Another aspect is being part of a local group of believers. As baptism should normally be carried out near the start of someone's Christian life, they will need the support of a local church. You wouldn't expect a new born baby or a young child to fend for themselves, nor should a new Christian be left on their own.

I think the only time someone wouldn't come into membership is when they are connected (and part of) another church, but which does not baptise (by full immersion).