Proposal on Baptism & Membership
Watch this video (~10 minutes long), to hear Pastor Marc provide an update on this proposal. He answers three of the most commonly asked questions that have been discussed in recent weeks.
The elders are proposing that we amend our practice as a church, to allow into our membership those who believe the gospel, profess faith in Christ, and evidence regeneration, but who hold “paedobaptist” convictions that fall within the realm of orthodoxy.
EXPLANATION
Generally speaking, there are two “camps” when it comes to baptism—credobaptist and paedobaptist. Credobaptists practice what many refer to as “believers’ baptism.” Paedobaptists will baptize those who convert to Christianity in adulthood, but they also will baptize infants who are born to believing parents.
At CCC, we are credobaptists. We only baptize those who are professing faith in Christ. In our Statement of Faith, we say that baptism is only “for those who come to faith in Christ.”
At CCC, we also require baptism for membership (as most churches throughout history rightly have). This creates a bit of a tension, however, when there are brothers or sisters who are desirous to join the membership of our church, but who were baptized as an infant and who continue to hold to paedobaptist convictions. Our normal practice has been to require someone in that circumstance to be baptized by us as a believer before joining our membership.
Some people have been willing to do this, but there are others whose convictions about paedobaptism are so strong that they believe being baptized “again” would be unnecessary and perhaps even inappropriate—since baptism is to be an unrepeated one-time initiatory act, and they view their baptism as valid.
What we are recommending is that we modify our policy to allow those brothers or sisters into our membership at CCC without requiring baptism as a believer.
RATIONALE
Listed below are a handful of reasons the elders believe this change would be healthy for us as a church.
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In our own church Bylaws, we have stated that “the basis of our joining together as members of Christ’s Covenant Church is our common salvation and union with God the Father that was accomplished by the work of Jesus and applied by the Holy Spirit.” The most fundamental basis of our bond as church members is our common salvation, not our common view of baptism.
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While elders are required to subscribe without reservation to our Statement of Faith, all other church members are not. Amongst our membership, we hold a wide range of views about eschatology, pneumatology, soteriology, missiology, church governance, etc. If those issues are not matters over which to withhold membership, we believe that baptism should not be either.
When members hold to a conviction that is out of step with our Statement of Faith, we require that their convictions fall within the broader range of Christian orthodoxy. And we require that they hold to their convictions in a manner that is not divisive or undermining of the official doctrine and practice of the church.
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There are baptismal views and practices within both camps (credo- and paedobaptist) that do fall outside the realm of Christian orthodoxy. There are some viewpoints that undermine core truths of the gospel (e.g. belief in baptismal regeneration, or in the idea that baptism of an infant removes original sin). But most evangelical paedobaptist viewpoints are a far cry from that. They arrive at different conclusions than us because of different understandings of the nature of the “church” and of the level of continuity/discontinuity between the old and new covenants. But they are seeking to be obedient to the teachings of Scripture, and they can gladly proclaim with us credobaptists that we all are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone
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Some may wonder what would happen if our church were to have an increasing number of paedobaptists join our ranks in membership. Would we eventually become a paedobaptist church? The clear answer would be “no.” If we were a congregationally-governed church, where doctrine and practice could be determined by majority votes of the members, that may be a possibility. But as a church characterized by “elder rule,” we are protected from hypothetical shifts like that. Ultimately, the collective eldership is the determiner of the official doctrine and practice of the church. And our elders are required to subscribe to, and minister in accordance with, our Statement of faith—which is clearly credobaptist.
PROCESS
The elders have prayerfully and carefully considered this proposal for quite some time and are unanimous in their presentation of this proposal. But they have not yet made a formal decision on this matter. They want to try to provide some teaching on the subject, and to hear any questions or objections that church members may have. Toward that end, here are a few things you can expect process-wise.
Pastor Marc will be preaching Sunday, January 29 from Acts 18:24-19:7. That sermon will (at least in part) touch upon this subject and the heart/rationale behind it.
The elders will be hosting a Q&A the evening of Wednesday, February 8 at 6:00 p.m. at the church.
If you would desire to ask questions or have discussion that would be more private in nature, any of the elders would be glad to talk with you in the days ahead.
No formal decision will be made until the end of February.
RESOURCES
Below, you can find some resources that may be helpful as you consider this proposal.
CHANGES TO OUR MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION AND COVENANT
If we were to adopt this proposal, we would need to update a few components of our membership application and membership covenant. A document has been created to show what those changes would entail. It is a four-page “red-line” document that shows the current membership application on the first two pages, and the proposed updated application on the third and fourth pages. Any differences between the two are notated in red. You can access that document by clicking the blue button below:
The changes to the membership covenant would be to its first two lines. If this proposal were to be adopted, those first two lines would then read as follows:
I affirm that I have repented of my sins, and by faith, have trusted in the work of Christ alone for my salvation. I have been baptized in the triune Name, as a picture of my union with Christ in His death and resurrection, and as signification of my identification with His people.
I commit to place myself under the care and authority of the Elders of this church and to support the church’s Statement of Faith. For the sake of the unity of the membership, if I have doctrinal scruples with the Statement of Faith, I will hold those views and abide by the practices of the church without dissension or divisiveness.
ARTICLES
If you’d like to read a few short articles that the pastors found helpful in their considerations of this subject, you can click on them below:
“Response to Grudem on Baptism and Church Membership” | An article by John Piper, in which he defends his (and his church’s) position on this issue—articulating why he believes paedobaptists should not be denied church membership in credobaptist churches.
“Baptism and Membership” | An article by Gavin Ortlund, in which he argues that baptismal differences do not rise to the level of necessitating a barring of a brother or sister from church membership.
VIDEOS
If you’d like to watch a few short videos to help you gain a better understanding of the differences between credo and paedobaptist convictions, you can watch the two that are embedded below.
Pastors Ligon Duncan and Thabiti Anyabwile discuss their differences over baptism and their bond in the gospel.
A six-minute explanation of the core differences between the two camps, and their beliefs about baptism