A BAPTISM OF OLDER CHILDREN & ADULTS

This special service, A Baptism for Older Children and Adults, was created at least a dozen years ago by Gordon Ellis and our Board of Deacons in response to many newcomers to our church, who either had no church background or who, for a variety of reasons, had not been baptized as infants, our usual time for offering the Sacrament of Christian Baptism.  Because baptism is a community sacrament and is normally offered only during public worship, and because older children and adults are often “shy” about being baptized alone in a worship setting, we offer this opportunity annually for them to be baptized as a group.  We always offer it on the second Sunday in January, our annual day for remembering and celebrating the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.  Some years we have as many as 12-15 participants in this special baptism service, while other years, no one signs up.