First Presbyterian
Church of Tonawanda

Baptism

 

Baptism is a sacrament

that celebrates the way that God, in unconditional love, seeks and receives humankind into new and everlasting life.

 

It is an affirmation that God’s grace is freely given, whether we realize it or not, or even have the ability to respond to it.. This is why we baptize children - because we believe that a child belongs to God, and that God is already at work in his or her life. Then, for baptized children, confirmation is a personal confession of faith in the promises of Baptism, made on his or her behalf.

 

The option to be baptized when one is ready to profess one’s personal faith in Christ is also affirmed in our tradition.

 

Baptism is an initiation into a community of faith. In our Presbyterian tradition, we believe that our relationships in the church family are necessarily where so much of our learning about God’s love and grace happens. (Eph.2:11-22) Therefore the congregation promises to join, with the parents, (and godparents) to share responsibility for the child’s growth in faith, love and service.

 

Baptism is received only once; because God’s faithfulness is constant towards us (even when human faithfulness is not). The effectiveness of Baptism is not tied to when it is administered, because it signifies the beginning of life in Christ, not the completion.

 

Anyone wishing to be baptized is invited to contact the pastor or the church office.