What is baptism?
“Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church. The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble.”
– The Book of Common Prayer, p. 298
Baptism and church membership
First and most importantly, for you to be a full part of the life of the parish, nothing is required but your presence. Every person who worships regularly in our pews and joins in our life as a church is a vital part of St. Paul’s.
There are a few things, though, for which official membership is required. In order to vote at the annual meeting, be a convention delegate or be a Lay Eucharistic Minister, the canons of the church and our own parish bylaws require official membership.
While the simplest way of becoming a member of the parish is to be baptized in it, there are other ways.
Transfer of membership
Those who come to the parish already baptized must have their membership transferred from their previous church. Please call the office at 509-529-1083 or send an e-mail to stpauls@stpaulsww.org. You will be asked to share some information for our records – when, where and in what denomination you were baptized – and we do the rest. We recognize as valid any baptism administered with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Official members of St. Paul’s remain on our books for life unless they request transfer to another church.
Adult affirmation of the faith
“In the course of their Christian development, those baptized at an early age are expected, when they are ready and have been duly prepared, to make a mature public affirmation of their faith” (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 412). There are several rites for this:
- Members of the church who were baptized as infants are expected to affirm their faith as adults through the rite of confirmation by the bishop.
- Members who have been confirmed in another denomination by a bishop in the apostolic succession (for instance, Church of Sweden, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic) are received into the Episcopal Church by the bishop.
- Those who have been baptized and confirmed in any church in the Anglican Communion and wish to recommit themselves to the life of faith reaffirm their baptismal vows.
Celebrate the mystery of membership
If you wish to be baptized, confirmed or received or desire Holy Baptism for your child, please contact Father Birch at 509-529-1083 or send an e-mail fr.rambo@stpaulsww.org.
