The baptism of our Lord is celebrated the first Sunday after the Epiphany. United Methodist Churches honor this event in various ways. At West Market Street United Methodist Church in Greensboro, Senior Minister Dr. Randy Waugh leads the congregation in a reaffirmation of the Baptism Covenant. Following the sermon, members of the congregation are invited to come to the baptismal font, touch the water, kneel at the altar for prayer and meditation, and thus renew their own baptism. It is a very emotional service for many.

Baptism is an important element in the Christian faith of United Methodists. Let's look further at the origins of this sacrament as we celebrate it in the United Methodist Church.

John Wesley's theology, and thus his sacramental theology, are consistent and predictable, not incidental or disconnected. The importance of sacraments to Wesley lies in their functions:

1. effective signs
2. effective means of grace
3. effective pledges of glory to come.

Swedish Bishop Ole Borgen, a Greensboro College graduate, says that John Wesley believed a sacrament was an outward and visible sign of inward grace. God uses these visible signs to aid us in overcoming our weaknesses. In baptism, the water symbolizes inward washing of the Holy Spirit.

Methodists recognize the centrality of the doctrines of Baptism and Eucharist. These two sacraments proclaim in word and sign the whole gospel of creation and redemption. Both are powerful expressions of the Gospel of Christ. Both anticipate and celebrate the life of an individual and of the Church. Both display God's purpose of salvation for all people. Thus, they are not private rites, but are to be celebrated in the company of others.

Baptism begins what the Lord's Supper preserves and develops: a life in faith and holiness. By baptism we are admitted into the church and made members of Christ, its head. Jews are admitted by circumcision; Christians by baptism. This involves union of Christ, not just union with the human institution. Infant baptism symbolizes important elements of the faith:

1. Cleared of original sin
2. Brought into the life of the church
3. Covenant of grace established with Abraham.

Baptism is the seal of the New Covenant. In baptism the Christian community recognizes the primacy of God's grace, seen in the community and continued through the Christian's development in childhood, the time of active response in Christian commitment, and the remainder of the Christian pilgrimage. God's offer of grace is not conditional on human response. The initiative is from God, and the church's rite of Christian initiation are both its embodiment and the church's response.

In infant baptism the response of faith is expressed by the church community, which looks forward to and prays for that response in the infant.

Eternal Spirit! descend from high, Baptizer of our spirits thou! The sacramental seal apply, And witness with the water now.