Baptism is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace signifying what God has done, not what we have done. For this reason, The Orchard accepts other baptisms, because we recognize them as the work of God and not of a particular congregation.

As an adult, baptism is a celebration of our recognition that we are loved by God, and we begin to love Him back! And all this is by grace. It is a celebration of when we recognize we have been recognized by God.

For infants and young children, baptism is the parents and community of faith realizing that God has claimed each person as His child, even before he or she has the capacity to claim Him back. It is then the lifelong effort of the parents, friends, and church to nurture and teach that child so he or she embraces God for him or herself as God has already embraced him or her. It is a common misunderstanding that infant and young children baptism is for salvation. Remember, baptism is a celebration of God’s act, not ours. So for a child, his or her act of accepting a personal relationship with Jesus for him or herself must follow.