Baptism of Believing Children
The Bible teaches that baptism is a way for those who have trusted Christ to express their identity with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. For that reason we baptize those, whether children or adults, who have trusted Christ as Savior and are ready to follow Christ in baptism. Find out more about baptism at Cherrydale.
Although we do not baptize infants we do baptize children when they are old enough to understand the Gospel and have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. In those cases, we work with the parent to help them establish their children in the faith before the baptism. Again our purpose is to partner with parents in making sure that the children have a clear understanding of the gospel, the meaning of baptism, and what it means to be a follower of Christ.
Is your child considering baptism?
We’ve got a handbook for children who are considering baptism! The handbook, designed for parents to complete with their children, covers a wide variety of topics, including baptism, the Trinity, Communion, and biblical doctrine. Email Beth Main at [email protected] or contact the church office at 703.525.8210.
Baptism of Infants
We do not baptize infants because the biblical pattern for baptism does not support this practice. The following is our understanding of the biblical pattern for putting your faith in Christ:
- Believe and trust in Jesus Christ as the one who died to pay our sin debt and the one who rose from the dead to give us His new life.
- Next, be baptized to publicly express your commitment to Jesus Christ; identifying with Him in his death (immersion under the water) and his resurrection (coming up out of the water).
- Then, make a commitment to grow in Christ in the context of a local church.
Support for this pattern is found in the following passages of Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-42; Acts 8:34-38; Romans 6:3-4,11.
Although we do not baptize infants, we do offer (four times per year) a Parent-Child Dedication ceremony. The intent behind this ceremony is for the parents to dedicate themselves to bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord with the support of our church family. While the parents also dedicate their children to the Lord during the ceremony, we emphasize the parents’ own dedication—their children are so young that they will not remember the occasion.
