First Baptist Church practices Believer’s Baptism by immersion after a person has made a personal decision to follow Jesus Christ and profess their faith in Him as Lord. Is this the next step in your faith journey?

The Christian practice of baptism comes from both the example and the command of Jesus Christ. Baptism carries a variety of meanings in the Christian tradition, but at First Baptist Church we mainly emphasize three: it marks conversion, it identifies us with Jesus, and it connects us to the church.

From the very beginning, people were baptized as a sign of repentance and forgiveness of sins. That continues today. The water itself does not take sin away—only God’s mercy does that—but baptism is still a powerful symbol. It represents God washing our hearts clean and is often one of the first public steps a new follower of Jesus takes after learning the basics of the Christian faith.

Baptism is also public because it expresses identification with Jesus. Jesus himself was baptized to show his solidarity with us, and in baptism we share symbolically in his death and resurrection. As we are lowered into the water and raised again, we act out dying to our old life and rising into new life in Christ. Through this, we are covered in God’s grace and we publicly say that we want our lives to look more and more like Jesus’.

Baptism also connects us to the church. It brings us into a new spiritual family that stretches across generations and around the world. Here at FBC, baptism usually also includes becoming a formal member of our congregation. Membership includes responsibilities and privileges like voting in church meetings and serving in leadership roles, but even more importantly, it expresses belonging and commitment. By joining ourselves to Christ, we also join ourselves to one another.

If you have recently decided to follow Jesus, baptism may be the right next step in your journey. If you would like to talk about preparation, the service itself, or any questions you might have, one of our pastors would be glad to visit with you.

We also want to be clear about one more thing. We do not require people who were baptized in other Christian traditions to be baptized again in order to join our church. If you are new to FBC but not new to Jesus, we honor your baptism and welcome you as you are. If you would like help remembering your infant baptism, marking a new calling in your life, or—on rare occasions—discussing the possibility of being baptized again, you are welcome to reach out to Aaron or Jackson to begin that conversation.