What is a United Methodist?

A Baptized Member of Christ's Body

A United Methodist is ...

A baptized member of Christ’s body, the church.  Christian baptism, a ritual dating back to the earliest days of the church, is a sacrament with many rich and layered meanings.  At the most basic level, baptism is the ordinary way a person passes through “immigration control” and becomes a citizen of God’s kingdom.  Just as we passed through the waters of our mothers’ wombs when we were born into this world, so when we pass through the waters of baptism we are “born again” into a new life.  Just as we wash our bodies clean with water, so in baptism God washes the old world out of our souls.  Just as the people of Israel followed Moses through waters of the Red Sea and so escaped from Egypt, so the waters of baptism set us free from slavery to sin.  Just as Jesus descended into the grave and rose transformed, so we must die to our old selves and allow God’s power to make us into something new.

There is some disagreement among Christians as to whether or not it is appropriate to baptize babies and young children, before they can make for themselves the decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ.  United Methodists, along with the majority of Christians, believe that baptism is more about what God does than it is about what we do; we therefore believe that it is appropriate to baptize babies and young children.  Just as parents make many other crucial decisions on behalf of their children, so we encourage parents to raise their children as followers of Christ, until they are old enough to claim the faith for themselves.