How to Celebrate Baptism Online

John 3:3-6 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Baptism is one of the major events in any Christian's life. It is at baptism that we die with Christ and are resurrected to new life through His sacrifice. Debates as to how necessary it is for salvation to be baptised are rather academic, as all the believers in the Bible were baptised, so we now follow them in taking baptism.

Romans 6:3-8 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.

As with communion, we cannot physically celebrate baptism through the internet, and it is best to be careful of water with computers! Being baptised is a symbol of your committment to Christ, not to any particular church, so you can be baptised by any minister. You can also, of course, be baptised by any Christian. It is up to you whether you opt for full immersion in a pool, lake or the sea, or whether you wish to sprinkle water or daub the sign of the cross on your forehead instead. It all depends on your tastes, convictions and what is available.

In order to be baptised, the minimum you need is one other person to baptise you. Make sure they are a Christian! It might be better to have two people as witnesses, for this is an important event. We can even be said to be symbolically married to Christ in baptism, as it is here that we become members of the Body of Christ, which is also the Bride of Christ.

For this reason, and for the deep meaning baptism has, people often make the ceremony rather ornate. Symbols often used in baptism include flowers and candles, to symbolise rebirth and light in the darkness. Cards and gifts are also sometimes exchanged.

So, it is not really possible to be baptised online, but only for us to affirm your baptism. you could, of course, always have someone spinkle you with water while viewing the site! But seriously, our idea is omre that you should use the resources of this site - liturgies, prayers and hymns, in order to plan your baptism. For ordinary worship the internet is a powerful tool, but for extraordinary actions such as baptism, marriage and funerals, it still has a great way to go. We merely hope to provide assistance for you outside the virtual environment to do what cannot be done within it.

© Rev Emma McCarthy, 2003. All content on this site, except for material written by others and designated as such, is copyleft under the provisions of the GNU General Public License. This means you can reproduce it in any form you wish, provided that you retain the copyright information.