Dedication, Baptism & Communion
Cedars Church is part of God’s global Church, and as part of our worship we carry out the Christian practices of dedication, communion and baptism. In view of the fact that churches have different practices in these areas, we thought that it would be helpful to outline how we approach these things at Cedars Church.
Dedication for Infants
Children are a great blessing from God and as a church we frequently thank God for them. One of the ways we do this is by having a time of ‘dedication’ for babies and young children within our church. In this time we thank God for the child, and the parents will publicly commit to raise their child according to the truths of God’s Word. In addition to this, the church family will agree to support the family in helping the child to walk in God’s path.
Occasionally we are approached by people outside the church to have a service for their young child. In that instance, we would conduct what we call a ‘blessing’ in which we thank God for the child and ask for his blessing to be upon them.
Baptism for Believers
In response to Jesus’ words to ‘repent and be baptised,’ our practice at Cedars is what is known as ‘believer’s baptism’. That is to say, we baptise those that have an active faith in Jesus as their Saviour and Lord. We believe that baptism is something that should come in the early part of a Christian’s life, so we would encourage believers not to postpone exploring baptism, unless they have a valid reason.
The Bible does not set a minimum age for this, so churches that practice believer’s baptism have to discern what they consider to be a wise approach. For us at Cedars, although we wholeheartedly believe that children often have a very vibrant relationship with God, we see wisdom in them not getting baptised at a very young age. We think that it is helpful for them to have time think about their faith and grow in their journey of following Jesus. We therefore wait until children are in high school before encouraging those that have professed faith in Christ to consider baptism.
In order to help people consider and prepare for baptism we offer Bible studies that look at the basics of the Christian Gospel and the significance and practice of baptism.
Communion
Communion (also known as the Lord’s Supper) was instituted by the Lord Jesus shortly before his death. During the time of the Passover feast, Jesus took bread and wine, and encouraged his disciples to see them as symbols of his sacrificial death. The bread reminds us of his body, that was bruised and beaten, and the wine reminds us of his blood that was shed. Essentially when Christians take the bread and wine, they are remembering the sacrificial death of Jesus and expressing their faith in it as the means by which they are graciously restored to God. In view of this, only those that have an active faith in Jesus as their Saviour and Lord should take the bread and wine. We therefore ask those that have not yet put their trust in Jesus to refrain from participating.
The Bible does not state the age at which a believer should begin taking communion, and so churches need to discern what they believe to be wise practice. At Cedars we see value in not rushing children into taking communion, so even when a child professes faith in Christ, we encourage them to wait until they are in high school before considering taking communion. That said, we really like to have children join us in communion times where possible, as we believe there is something healthy and joyful about them being present for this important part of our worship. Furthermore, we believe that even though they are not taking the bread and wine, they can be encouraged to participate in their hearts by focussing on what Jesus has done for them, and how much he loves them. We hope that by emphasising this they will feel part of our communion times.
If you would like your child to be dedicated, or you wish to be baptised, or you have any questions about any of the information above, please speak to someone from the Leadership Team.
Yours in Christ,
The Leadership Team
