Might be attending a UMC, and have questions

[HumbleMan]

My wife and I may start attending a UMC service, and I have a few questions, as I've never been a member.

A little background: Wife was a member of a small town UMC while growing up. I didn't accept Christ until I was thirty. It happened at a Church of God, and I was baptized there as well.

I was wondering about baptism and the UMC. I know the church practices infant baptism, but is this a hard and fast rule? I mean, I would like my children to make up their own mind to be baptized when they are ready. Would this be acceptable? And would my baptism in another church be recognized?

I was also wondering what the church's position is on the Eucharist (transubstantion or symbolism).

I would like to learn more about the church. I've never been to a church that follows a liturgy or sung from a hymnal, so this would be something new for me.

I hope you don't mind me posting and asking questions. We're not members, or have even attended yet, but I am curious.

Thanks,

HM

[cristianna]

Welcome Humbleman! :wave:

The UMC generally does baptize (http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=16&mid=3196) children as infants and then they proceed with confirmation (http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1697421/k.65F6/Confirmation_Overview.htm). Your baptism is most definitely accepted.

As for your other questions I'm going to let more seasoned and educated ones answer those. :thumbsup:

Feel free to join us anytime to chat, ask questions or anything else!

[Marycita]

Hiya!! :wave:

The position on communion was a BIG thing for me when I was looking at different churches ..I grew up catholic, but I never believed in transubstantion, so it was important to me that the church I joined didn't either :P

here's a link about communion for ya http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.2068577/k.9ACD/Ask_InfoServ/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp

you might find the whole site helpful really..it's got a lot of easy access answers :)

[Celticflower]

I was wondering about baptism and the UMC. I know the church practices infant baptism, but is this a hard and fast rule? I mean, I would like my children to make up their own mind to be baptized when they are ready. Would this be acceptable? And would my baptism in another church be recognized?



Whle infant baptism is the norm, some families choose to dedicate their infants and let the child decide on baptism at a later time. Due to my husband's objections our children where dedicated as infants. My daughter was baptised in the UMC at age 3 because she asked to be. My son was not baptised until he was 11, and that was in the non-denom we currently attend. (Unfortunately, while the UMC does accept baptisms from other walks, our current church does not. So my daughter and I are not members because we do not see the need to be re-baptised at this time.)

[GraceSeeker]

My wife and I may start attending a UMC service, and I have a few questions, as I've never been a member.

A little background: Wife was a member of a small town UMC while growing up. I didn't accept Christ until I was thirty. It happened at a Church of God, and I was baptized there as well.

I was wondering about baptism and the UMC. I know the church practices infant baptism, but is this a hard and fast rule? I mean, I would like my children to make up their own mind to be baptized when they are ready. Would this be acceptable? And would my baptism in another church be recognized?

I was also wondering what the church's position is on the Eucharist (transubstantion or symbolism).

I would like to learn more about the church. I've never been to a church that follows a liturgy or sung from a hymnal, so this would be something new for me.

I hope you don't mind me posting and asking questions. We're not members, or have even attended yet, but I am curious.

Thanks,

HM


First, no one here in the WP is going to mind that you have posted questions. In fact, we are truly glad that you would take the time to ask and seek to find out what any of the various denominations here that all have some connection with John Wesley might have to say.

As to the specific questions, they are ones that I have heard many times as a pastor. The short answer is, that I see no problem with anything you have raised.

Yes, we do practice infant baptism in the church. We also practice adult baptism. We don't think that there is any difference between the two for we believe that baptism is not about what the individual being baptized does, but is an expression of God's grace acts in our lives that we cannot in any way earn. So much so that even faith is not from ourselves but is a gift of God. Thus we do baptize infants and understand that to be a symbol of God's gracious activity in the child's life that, we pray as a covenant community with the child, will mature into an active, living faith that when the child is able he/she will give expression to of his/her own accord. But when parents do not feel like presenting their children for baptism there exists no compulsion to do so. (Though I won't guarantee that your pastor won't speak encouragingly to you about this once or twice until he/she understands where you are coming from.)


Most certainly your baptism would be recognized. Again, baptism is not the work of an individual, a pastor, or a church but of God. So, any baptism that would have been a Christian baptism is just as valid as any other Christian baptism. If you want more details on this I suggest you talk to your pastor, but generally all I have ever done is ask for the name of the last church of which a person was a member and written to that church requesting a letter of transfer. This is really done more as a courtesy to the other church letting them know of their member's change of status and usually we go ahead with the service at some time of convenience for the person joining the church. If you want to get a sneak peek at the service (and anything that you might be asked to agree to) you will find several different options for the service at the front of those hymnals you were mentioning. But, be advised, there is no rule that exactly that form has to be used and most pastors edit them slightly to suit their own tastes.

Marycita did an excellent job in referring you to the denominational statements regarding the eucharist. No, we don't believe in transubstantiation. I would stop just short of saying that we believe it is only symbolic. That is probably what it looks like to say a Catholic or a Lutheran, but United Methodists do believe that Christ is really present in the service of Holy Communion, but that doesn't mean that he infuses the elements with his presence. Again, several different orders for the service are suggested in the hymnal, but they all have in common the idea that we do this in remembrance of him. The problem with wording so concisely is that we don't think of the service as just a memorial act, it is also a celebration of thanskgiving and an actual communion with Christ (and one another) in the present. However, this communion with Christ takes place on the spiritual level, not the physical, save as he is also present in the congregation which is the body of Christ.