In response to a number of queries, the elders of Goodwood Baptist Church decided to articulate our position on participation in communion and baptism. This is not intended to be an exhaustive theological treatise on the ordinances of the church, nor even a full defence of our position thereof. It is merely a simple statement, with a view to offering clarity on how we seek to shepherd the church of God in a local context.
These two ordinances (Baptism & Communion), being Christian rites established and affirmed by the Lord Jesus Christ, are binding upon the church and to be continued until He returns. They are necessarily, but gladly entered into, by all true Christians, as an act of obedience. Engaging in these outward acts is not for the attaining of salvation (it will not regenerate and save a soul dead in their sins); but comes rather as a consequence of receiving salvation by grace through faith in the gospel. Having received and confessed Christ, the ordinances become a vital witness and sign of participation in more than the act itself. Specifically, it is participation in the very body of Christ (that is, the church He purchased with His blood) – being wholly identified with His Person, interests and people.
Accordingly, it comes as no surprise that both communion and baptism are intrinsically tied to membership in a local church (or charitably, with the active pursuit of such). This is the testimony of Holy Scripture, and defensible even in those passages that are less explicit in the matter. To cite but two examples, we note Acts 2:37-41 and 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. In Acts, those who are baptised are admitted into the local assembly – being counted among their number, in common agreement with their confession, and accountable to them and their leaders.
In Corinthians, those who are meant to partake in communion are similarly members of the church at Corinth, and strongly warned not to participate with a spirit of maverick independence. This is the apostolic expectation, and clear practice, of the early church, as they submitted to the leading and authority of the Holy Spirit. The ordinances are tied to membership – not merely broadly in the ‘universal’ church, but narrowly in a local body.
As to participation in communion… this biblical and historic understanding has led to various attempts to safeguard the witness of the church, and to shield those who participate from the danger of eating and drinking judgement on themselves. Some churches have ‘open tables’ (any professing Christian may eat & drink), some have ‘closed tables’ (only members of the local church may do so), and some have variations of those positions (such as limiting communion to the same denomination). At Goodwood, we have no desire to exclude any true Christian from the communion table, and therefore do not have a ‘closed table’ approach. However, nor do we wish to imply that Christians who wilfully withhold membership for selfish reasons, or who are ‘church hoppers’, should glibly eat and drink, and incur God’s judgement for failing to ‘consider the body’.
Therefore, while the table remains open, the elders and those entrusted to lead communion will always seek to “fence” it. That is, we will offer both encouragements and admonitions, in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 11. To assist those who desire to participate, we would pose questions for self-reflection, such as:
· Am I presently trusting the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – confessing Him to be the Lord, and the only Saviour of sinners?
· Am I presently a member of a local church, whether Goodwood Baptist or another (in the case of visiting Christians)?
· Do I actively seek to serve the body of Christ – which is the church? Or do exploit and use it only for my own convenience – the way some of these Corinthians did?
· Am I wilfully withholding membership – withholding my commitment to this body of people? (and if so, should I be eating a covenant meal that speaks to our oneness and unity?)
· Am I eating as part of the body of Christ…while not yet baptised into the body of Christ?
· Are my children eating, and should they be? Are they converted, baptised and pursuing membership? (these things being Biblically interrelated).
The elders have no desire to hinder sincere Christians from this glorious sign of the new covenant; only to lovingly safeguard the witness of the church, and those who participate. We must all ‘examine ourselves, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup’. The table is open to church members – our own, or those visiting from other churches. But it is also open to those who are actively seeking, or pursuing, membership in a local church. Failing such, our counsel and sober warning is that a person ‘not eat or drink’. Nor should the one who is excommunicated eat and drink – being ‘out of communion’ with the church. Should such a situation arise, those serving at the table will not physically prevent a person from taking (and bring chaos to the service), but certainly we would publicly warn of the danger of defying the Lord in this matter – and then entrust the judgement to God.
As to participation in baptism…our church confession is credo baptistic. That is to say, we baptise a person on profession of their faith (creed, hence ‘credo’) in the gospel. We are not paedobaptist – baptising infants. Also, as stated earlier, baptism is inescapably related to membership in a local church (Acts 2). Thus, we do not offer baptism to those who simply desire it – as a sort of “community service” – but only to those who desire to obey the full weight of Scripture’s teachings by submitting to the local body. It is part of the membership process – not separate from it. While we acknowledge that baptisms happened quickly in New Testament times – and have no desire to put obstacles before those who desire it – we must also acknowledge that baptism in the early church was better understood, with greater awareness of the attendant responsibilities and consequences(1).
As to participation of children in baptism and communion…there are important considerations to keep in mind. Clearly the Lord does sometimes convert people at a young age. And such converted children should be welcomed into the waters, and to the table. However, having the same privileges, they would also come under the same obligations as are our laid upon a Christian adult. That is to say, if a child desires to partake of communion or be baptised, not only must they be converted, they should also be actively pursuing membership and submitting to the authority that the Lord Jesus invested into the local church. They would need to work through the same membership process as anyone else – involving the elders, whom the Lord has made accountable for the local body.
A word of counsel to Christian Parents: Clearly Christian parents have a significant role in shepherding their children’s heart in these matters. Parents lead their children in family worship in the home – modelling for them the life of the Christian and leading them to the Lord. They also teach their children Scripture and doctrine – equipping them with Christian knowledge and understanding. But parents likewise help their children in public worship – restraining their childlike impulse to participate in communion when they are not ready and understanding. This calls for much wisdom. Children are often impressionable and compliant with the will of their parents – making it easy to produce a ‘confession of faith’ simply by asking for it. And of course, the natural desire of any Christian parent is to see them quickly affirmed in the faith, and actively involved. Children also seek to follow their peers – being ready to do as they do – and might easily request baptism/communion because it looks to be entertaining.
Thus, as elders we counsel great diligence in leading young ones – being careful not to pressurize them towards either communion or baptism, but rather patiently teaching, and discerning if there is a sincere interest arising from the child himself/herself. If persuaded of such, the parents would then engage with the elders about the way forward with regards to applying for church membership. To state a Biblically consistent truth, the elders would also note that parents who are eager to affirm their child’s readiness for communion and baptism in the context of membership…must also be ready to uphold church discipline involving their children, should that ever become necessary (as they would any other member).
To state it in the form of questions: If you – the parent – are ready to recommend your child for church membership, would you also be ready to hold them accountable – even excommunicate them – if they fail to live up to their confession of faith later on? (As a teenager or young adult?) Would you so love Christ (the head of the church), and your fellow church members, and your child, that you would be ready to call him/her to repentance through church discipline? The answer to that question says a lot about a person’s own understanding of membership, and their readiness to recommend their children for such.
* * *
(1) Indeed, one of the reasons so many request to be ‘rebaptised’ is because they were rushed into it the first time, with little understanding. Our position on this is that we are generally very reluctant to baptise a person a second time – seeing the one baptism as being “one” (however immaturely it might have been made). If they were baptized in a true church, making a sincere profession at the time, then even a later realisation that there were shortcomings in such a confession does not make the baptism invalid. They were baptised publicly, with a confession, to which they have now returned. Of course, this subject quickly become immense, with strong opinions held, and different situations and contexts requiring consideration before coming to a final answer in each instance (e.g. cultic backgrounds, etc). However, that is not the burden of this paper. We simply offer our general position on how we view this.