Baptism & Membership

South Abbotsford Church is a Mennonite Brethren (MB) Church.
This is a very brief explanation of our MB belief regarding Baptism:

First of all, we bless you in your request to become a member of South Abbotsford M.B. Church. We look forward to our fellowship bond with you.

The MB Church practices the Anabaptist ordinance of Believers Baptism.

At the time of the Reformation some believers in reading the Scriptures, understood the Bible to teach that baptism and church membership was for all those who could personally testify to a life-changing personal faith in Christ, their Saviour. Many of these believers had been baptized as infants and understood their need to be baptized again. Thus they came to be known as Anabaptists (the prefix ‘ana’ means ‘again’)

We believe infant baptism is the parent’s covenant with God to raise their child according to Christian principles. In the MB Church we practice child dedication, where the parents also promise/covenant to raise their child for Christ. Children whose parents make this covenant are truly blest.

However we believe the Bible teaches that everyone needs to personally make a believers decision to be baptized ‘upon the confession of their faith.’ This re-baptism would be the believer’s personal seal of completion of the covenant made by their parents.

Since the Biblical instruction to ‘Repent and be baptized’ Acts 2:38, requires a personal decision by the individual, the MB Church believes that it is necessary that the person be adult enough to fully understand the implications of this important decision. Based on this Scripture and other Bible verses, the MB Church practices believer’s baptism. As mentioned, this Baptism is based upon your personal confession of faith.

The question we ask each person at the moment prior to baptism is “Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and your personal Saviour?” To your response of ‘Yes’, we respond, ”Upon your personal confession of faith, we baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.”

What a blessing!

We hope this abridged explanation will answer your questions regarding the MB doctrine of Baptism. If you have any further questions, we would love to meet with you personally or offer you our MB literature, which explains this further.

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