I was baptised as a baby and I think probably found it easier to come back to church because I already had that sense of belonging. When I was 20, I became a Christian whilst studying at university and returned to church and was confirmed, and the rest as they say is history! I do wonder if that journey would have been so easy, or even happened at all if I hadn't been baptised as a child.
However, thinking of the importance of baptism and the promises made during the baptism service I do wonder whether or not we ('we' being the church) should encourage infant baptism or not. In some ways I wonder if it's a modern day circumcision, a right of passage so to speak. I can kid of see two schools of thought; 'Operato, operata'- when it's done, it's done. Regardless of the legitimacy of the promises made by parents/godparents, once baptised any child will always be a member of Gods family and confirmation can offer them a chance to confirm the promises made on their behalf. The second school of thought, I guess would be to wait until the individual can decide for themselves and I guess be baptised as an adult- just as Jesus was.
I'm not really sure which way I'm swaying towards, however, one this is for sure- we, as a church and as individuals need to make the most of the opportunities we have to reach out to baptism families and candidates to encourage them to feel a part of the church family and to want to learn more about God's kingdom.
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