United Methodists & Re-Baptism

[JML]

My entire family except for me are United Methodists. I am not extremely familiar with the details of their theology since I have not been in the UMC since I was a child. In discussions with my family the other day, they brought up that their church will re-baptize members who were baptized as an infant when they make a profession of faith. This is only for those who request it and generally it is done by immersion.

Has anyone heard of this in other UMC churches or other paedo denominations?

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

In my experience every UMC church I have been around has their own peculiarities on the sacraments. For instance the UMC across the street uses a kneeling rail for the Lord's Supper and only baptizes infants, but the UMC up the road only baptizes by immersion and has the Lord's Supper once a year.

 

[JML]

the UMC up the road only baptizes by immersion

Infants by immersion in the UMC? Interesting. I have not heard of that outside of Eastern Orthodox.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

the UMC up the road only baptizes by immersion

Infants by immersion in the UMC? Interesting. I have not heard of that outside of Eastern Orthodox.

I should have been more clear, they dedicate infants (no water/sign applied) and only practice credobaptism.

 

[Bill The Baptist]

I should have been more clear, they dedicate infants (no water/sign applied) and only practice credobaptism

Wouldn't that just make them liberal Baptists?

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

Most of the UMC around me are pretty socially conservative. But they are more like SBC churches anway...

 

[ralphmnj]

As a former United Methodist leader, if their District Superintendent or Bishop heard about that, they would most likely receive correction or lose their appointment (to that particular church).

In the UMC there are few things held as strictly as baptism. A UMC can baptize professing believers (even by immersion) but according to church polity, rebaptism is verboten. They view baptism as a sign of prevenient grace and, if a sign of grace, then an act of God and God will not fail His part.

Yes to immersion of believers (sprinkling would work), yes to infants, no to rebaptism.

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[Jake]

That's very interesting Ralph. I too have heard of UMC churches that would re-baptize.

 

[ralphmnj]

Yeah, actually just found this on the UMC website. Look under the section that says "baptism is forever:" http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/baptism

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[JML]

So maybe the common denominator is that these UMC congregations are in the Southeast. We have Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi represented already. My experience is similar to Ben's, the UMC here is hard to distinguish from the SBC. My parents' church has 3 staff members. The pastor is obviously UMC but the Music Minister is a Baptist. He is also the Music Minister at the SBC church across the street. The Methodists have service at 10 and the Baptists at 11. The Youth Pastor is a Pentecostal. This kind of thing is normal around here. Staff and congregants move between differing denominations at will.

 

[ralphmnj]

Could very well be.

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[reaganmarsh]

So maybe the common denominator is that these UMC congregations are in the Southeast. We have Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi represented already. My experience is similar to Ben's, the UMC here is hard to distinguish from the SBC. My parents' church has 3 staff members. The pastor is obviously UMC but the Music Minister is a Baptist. He is also the Music Minister at the SBC church across the street. The Methodists have service at 10 and the Baptists at 11. The Youth Pastor is a Pentecostal. This kind of thing is normal around here. Staff and congregants move between differing denominations at will.

During the time that I was in high school (Olive Branch, MS, which is basically a suburb of Memphis, TN), our staunchly SBC church called an music pastor from an IFB/Bob Jones congregation, an associate pastor from a Methodist background who had then gone to E-Free, and a co-pastor with an AOG background who was serving an E-Free church.

Very interesting.

 

[Bill The Baptist]

I guess this is not all that uncommon in the south. I know a man who is a senior pastor at a Baptist church plant who also has a day job as an associate pastor at a large UMC church.

 

[reaganmarsh]

Even before I was Reformed in my theology, such things never made sense to me...

 

[reformedminister]

As has been already mentioned, re-baptism is not officially allowed in the UMC. I used to be a UMC Minister. However, the denomination is so diverse that a lot is allowed without much discipline. It depends on the District and Conference. You can have a more conservative Bishop or District Superintendent for a while and then a liberal one later. This makes all the difference. Local churches also may have their own beliefs and practices, that may be in total opposition to UMC doctrine. I was appointed to a church once who believed in immersion only. I did not find this out until I performed an adult baptism by pouring. I used the baptismal font in front of the church, which was donated as a gift. However, the church had no clue what it was. This is like having a pulpit but believing the pastor should stand in the center isle and preach without notes!

 

[Edward]

I knew of a church in south Georgia that had a Jewish boy as head of the Methodist Youth Fellowship.