Why we Dedicate and don't baptise infants (christening)?

At Chase Family Church we believe that the Bible is very clear that baptism is for those who have made a conscious decision to follow Jesus. It normally involves being fully immersed in water. The New Testament is written in Greek and the word for ‘baptise’ is used to describe dipping a cup in a bowl of water or the sinking of a ship! In English we might say drench, dip, dunk or saturate. The word was sometimes used as a metaphor meaning to “overwhelm”.

The New Testament teaches that baptism was an integral part of becoming a Christian – the call to “repent, believe and be baptised” was an invitation to turn aside from the old way of life, to believe in God and to be baptised in water as a sign of starting a new life in Christ. A baby is not capable of making such a response.

So how did the practice of baptising (or christening) infants arise? In part, it seems to stem from a mistaken view that the act of baptism was more than symbolic – that it had mystical power to wash away a person’s guilt. As early as the third century, some churches baptised infants out of fear that they might otherwise die before their guilt could be removed. Later, under the Roman Emperor Constantine, Christianity became in effect a state religion and drifted towards formalism and ritual. From this point on, baptising infants slowly became the norm in many churches. Judging by the size of their fonts, medieval churches may have baptised babies by full immersion. But for us this still misses the key point – all the evidence in the Bible is that baptism is for believers, those who have chosen to put their faith in God, not for infants who are too young to have made such a decision.

Instead, we have what we call infant ‘dedication’ which normally takes place during a Sunday morning service. We believe children are a gift from God and the act of dedication – which is a matter for parents to request - is simply an opportunity for parents, together with the whole church, to give thanks for the safe arrival of the child and promise before God to seek to bring him or her up in a way that is consistent with Christian teaching. We hope and pray that when the child is older they will come to decide for themselves to follow Jesus.