Confirmation Dinner and Service Parents’ Frequently Asked Questions

What happens at the Confirmation service? The Confirmation service is a special worship service where students who have completed Confirmation class (confirmands) confirm their faith in Jesus Christ and take their vows of membership in the church. Students who have not yet been baptized will be baptized. All of the confirmands will take their vows of membership in the Christian church and become members of Auburn United Methodist Church.

My child was christened as an infant. Is that the same as baptism? Yes. In the United Methodist Church, christening is baptism. At the Confirmation service, students who were baptized as infants will accept for themselves the vows that were made for them at their baptism.

If my child was christened, does he need to be re-baptized at the service? No. In the United Methodist Church, we do not re-baptize.

If my child was baptized as a baby or a child through another Christian denomination, does he need to be re-baptized at the service? No. In the United Methodist Church, we recognize and accept the baptisms of all Christian denominations.

If my child is being baptized at the service, can he choose to be baptized by immersion? Due to logistical issues, we are unable to offer baptism by immersion at the Confirmation service. United Methodists baptize by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling. At this particular service we will offer baptism by sprinkling.

What if we can’t attend the service but my child does want to be confirmed? If you can’t attend the service, please contact Michelle Stearns, [email protected]. We will work with you to make arrangements for your child to be confirmed and join the church at one of our Sunday morning worship services.

What if we can’t attend the dinner but my child does plan to take part in the service? Please contact Michelle Stearns so we’ll know to expect you at the service. All confirmands need to be present for the service by 6:30pm.

If we have additional family members who want to attend the service but not the dinner, do we need to let you know? No. We need reservations for everyone attending the dinner and we need to know which confirmands will be attending the service, but you don’t have to let us know about family members who just want to attend the service.

What’s the schedule for the evening? The Confirmation dinner and service have been scheduled for Tuesday, April 5th.  6:00 – Dinner begins in the Fellowship Hall. o Reservations are required. Information about making reservations will be given later.  6:45 – The service begins, and it will last approximately one hour.  7:45 – Confirmands take a group picture.  Please note the schedule is tentative depending on the number of confirmands.

Our family would like to join AUMC. May we join with our child at the service? Yes, we’d love to have your family join AUMC together. If you wish to join, please contact Sally Granberry, [email protected]

I have a question that you didn’t list. Who can I ask? Contact Michelle Stearns, [email protected] or 334-559-9003

What About…Baptism?

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From AUMC’s “Together” Magazine, March-April 2011

Baptism is a practice seen throughout the Bible, as well as nearly every Sunday at AUMC. But have you ever wondered what exactly it means or why certain denominations practice different methods? In this edition of Together’s new column, “What About...?” we’ll focus on questions surrounding baptism. More than a sweet service for parents and their infants, discover how baptism is a powerful reminder of our identity as God's beloved children.

What is baptism and what does it mean for my faith?

Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace offered to us by God. During the baptism ceremony, a person is either immersed in or has water sprinkled or poured on them as a physical act to mark their spiritual identity as a believer and member of the body of Christ, the Church. While some denominations understand baptism to only function as a sign of something the believer has done in accepting Christ, the United Methodist Church believes it to represent what God has done first by offering us grace while we are still sinners. This is also why we do not believe it is necessary to be “re- baptized”. God’s gift and offering of grace does not change.

Baptism is not a rite one endures in order to join a church or only a sweet service for parents and their babies. It is our reminder throughout our lives that we belong to God. Remembering our baptism does not simply mean remembering the day we were baptized, but rather remembering that we have a current relationship of baptism – belonging – with God. Through life’s trials, we may draw comfort and strength from the knowledge that we are marked as His.

Why do United Methodists baptize infants?

People often wonder about the baptism of infants. As Christians, the act of baptism is a sacrament proclaiming God’s love for us and to identify us as children of God. In our United Methodist understanding, salvation has three essential aspects: the gift of grace from God (prevenient grace), the individual’s response (the profession of faith and renewing of the heart called justifying grace), and the growing in faith as part of a community of believers (sanctifying grace). Infant baptism takes seriously the prevenient and sanctifying graces.

United Methodists believe that God’s grace is offered to all people, and that His grace acts upon our lives whether or not we are aware of it or accept Him. Therefore, when an infant is baptized, we are affirming that the child already belongs to God, though he/she has no comprehension of this at the time. It is not his/her choice to belong at this time, but His choice to claim him/her as His own. When the child is mature enough to make his/her own profession of faith and accept God’s gracious gift of salvation, we often celebrate that decision in a ceremony known as Confirmation, which follows classes or retreats outlining the Christian faith. During this celebration, the child confirms the vows of baptism (belonging) that were made on his/her behalf. The child then begins working out his/her own salvation with the Lord and within the faith community through sanctifying grace.

What About…Baptism?

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To further answer the question about the United Methodist Church’s baptism of infants, it’s helpful to look at the concept of covenants in Scripture. Baptism is a sign of the new covenant relationship that God offers us through Christ. But there was also a similar act in the Old Testament.

God offered a covenant to Abraham in Genesis 17 that He would be the God of Abraham and his descendants, the Israelites (Jewish people). Christians claim this relationship through Christ. One sign of this covenant between God and Israel was circumcision, which was done to a boy on his eighth day of life. This was an irreversible procedure that forever marked him as a Jew and an heir to the covenant with God. Notice that they didn’t wait until the boy was “of age” so that he could decide whether or not he wanted to be an Israelite. He was already a member of the tribe. Also, they didn’t wait until he was old enough to remember the experience to believe that He belonged to God. It was part of his identity from his eighth day. Later, when the boy was 12 years old, he had a rite of passage called a Bar-Mitzvah in which he made the decision to claim what was already given to him – his identity as a Jew.

There is also record of the heads of families making decisions for their children to be baptized. Acts 16:13-15 and Acts 16:29-34 record whole households being baptized together, as the family heads chose to baptize and nurture their children in the faith.

So we see that biblically there are two separate actions in this covenant to belong to God. The first is by God at birth claiming the child as His, a grace freely given to the child without any merit on his part. The second is by the boy at a later date when he can think and decide for himself that he will receive this gift from God. God’s offering of love comes first, and the boy’s obedient response comes later.

Is there one correct method of baptism?

While there are several methods of baptism, immersion, sprinkling, pouring, etc., they are all equally valid. Baptism is a symbol of the Christian’s covenant with God. It functions like a wedding ring, the sign of covenant between a husband and wife. The ring itself is not the commitment or the relationship. You can take off the ring, lose it or even trade it in for a nicer one, but it does not change the fact that the couple is married. A bigger ring doesn’t make a person “more married,” just as a smaller ring doesn’t make one “less married”. So it is with baptism. It doesn’t matter how much water is used. The water and the method are only symbols of the deeper implication of baptism. What matters is the relationship one has with God who loves them.

What is the congregation’s role in baptism?

Baptism involves more than the individual being baptized. Through baptism we are incorporated into the body of believers, or the Church. As baptized members, we agree to live out our baptismal vows within the ongoing, nurturing life of the congregation. This means we assume the responsibility of nurturing the newly baptized person as he or she grows in their relationship in Christ.