http://www.central-church.org Serving the Evansville Community through Jesus Christ Since 1849 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:08:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.central-church.org/baptism/ http://www.central-church.org/baptism/#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:57:30 +0000 Joe Easley http://new.central-church.org/?p=235 Central Church follows the United Methodists practice of accepting children of believing parents for the sacrament of baptism, through which they enter the church family as Baptized Members. Baptism always comes as a human response to the God’s initiative to love us and invite us into relationship. Whether we are adults, youth or children, our response to God does not depend on the level of our knowledge or our deeds, but on faith. In the baptism of youth and adults, this faith response comes from the person being baptized; in the baptism of children or others unable to answer for themselves, it is the faith of the parents or sponsors, who also commit to raise the child at home and in the church is such a way that they can eventually chose Christ for themselves. Generally youth and adults, who have not been previously baptized, receive this sacrament, when they are ready to profess their faith and become members. We recognize baptism in any Christian congregation and do not re-baptize persons, because we recognize that God who is acknowledged in baptism is faithful and never deserts us. When it is desired, we do offer the “Renewal of Baptismal Vows” for persons who have come back to church after a time away or come to a deeper or renewed faith in God.

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