Christian baptism is the outward expression of the inner faith and trust a person has in Jesus Christ; it is a public declaration that they follow Jesus.

Jesus said: “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” And so when a person comes to a saving faith in Jesus (see ‘Knowing God’), as a public act of obedience to Jesus they get baptised. Since we are a Baptist Church we practice 'believer's baptism', which means we do not baptise infants or children but those who have come to know their Father God for themselves and made a personal decision to follow Jesus.

The word ‘baptism’ comes from a Greek word that means “to submerge in water”, and so the act of baptism involves a person being fully submerged or immersed in water, be that in a baptistery in a church, in a swimming pool, river, or even the ocean – it does not matter where someone is baptised so long as they are, because baptism carries some significant symbolism.

When a person is immersed in water it symbolises them dying and being buried with Christ; the person has died to their old way of life without God. Then, as the person comes up out of the water, it symbolises them being resurrected with Christ to new life in Christ as a child of God - a life that will go on past death and into the paradise of eternity. St. Paul writes:

For everyone who would like to be baptised, we run a short course on baptism so each person knows what baptism is, why we baptiuse, how we baptise, and what happens after baptism. If you are thinking about being baptised, or would like to know more, please just get in touch HERE.