Baptism

This morning I had the honor of visiting a small church that baptized seven people at the start of their worship service.  These individuals ranged in age from 86 to children and included a father and son and a husband and wife who were baptized together.  A long time member of the church said that he could not remember ever seeing that many people baptized at one time in the church.

Different denominations have different understanding of baptism, but for those of us who are Baptists, baptism is a special event in the life of the individual and the church.  For the individual it signifies something that has taken place in his or her life.  This person has invited Jesus Christ into his or her life, and baptism represents the death of the old life (being lowered into the water) and the new birth (coming out of the water).  It is a public statement that he or she has begun a new life that has been transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.  For the church it represents the start of a new relationship with the individual being baptized.  For most Baptist churches, one must be baptized by immersion before becoming a member, so the baptism is seen as the beginning of that relationship.  So, I hope you can see the importance of this day for both the individuals and the church.

I attended services there this morning because I had heard about the planned baptism, and I wanted to be there to celebrate with the church.  Two years ago this church was struggling.  Their attendance was dwindling, they had few youth, and their financial support was declining.  Their fully-funded pastor had resigned to move to another church, and the church was realizing it needed to look for a bivocational pastor.  This was a disappointment to some within the church, and I would not be surprised if a few didn't see it as the first step towards their demise as a church.  About a year ago the church did call a bivocational pastor, and today they were able to celebrate a significant event in the life of their church.  Later this evening they held a special business meeting at which they approved the purchase of equipment that will help their outreach to the children of the community.  Because this involved a significant outlay of money for a smaller church this decision represented a genuine step of faith for the church.  The pastor called me after their evening worship service to thank me for attending the morning service and to tell me the results of their business meeting.  It was a great day in the life of this small church and their bivocational pastor.

Many churches today are finding they also need to make the shift from having a fully-funded pastor to a bivocational pastor.  For many of these churches this decision often comes with a sense of loss and a fear that their days of ministry are about to end.  What many of these churches find is that they are able to move into a new era of ministry that is exciting and rewarding.  Calling a bivocational pastor is not a step backwards for these churches but an opportunity to begin again with a fresh focus on ministry that can transform people's lives.

I'm excited about the future of the church I visited this morning.  I believe they are trusting God to do great things in and through them, and, as a result, they are going to see lives transformed and they will have a greater impact on their community than they've known for years.  Your church can experience the same thing as you seek a fresh vision for ministry from God for your church.

I would love to hear about the exciting things that are happening in your bivocational churches.