James Brownston has a book "The Promise of Baptism" where he devotes a chapter to this issue. If you can get your hands on it you might find it helpful.
I found the book. Brownston goes in some detail into the HalfWay Covenant in colonial history, where grandparents who had professed their faith would present their grandchildren on behalf of the parents who had been baptized but not professed their faith, "as long as the immediate parents were not involved in scandal and continued in the fellowship of the church".
After a couple of pages of discussion he says "The church should only baptize infants who have at least one parent who is a believer. By parent I mean someone who has a recognized and final responsibility for the care and nurture of that child. The question of who counts as such a "parent" may vary, depending on the cultural context. Some culturees have much more extended households where grandparents may exercise a significant role in the lives of children. But even in such cases, I believe the final determinant should be whether that "parent" has a recognized and final responsibility for the care of the child. The parent of a child is the person on whom this primary and ultimate responsibility rests. If this most basic parental relationship is not infused with the presence of the Spirit emenating from the life of a believer, then the household in which this relationship exists is not a believing household and the infant born to such a household should not be baptized on the basis of God's covenant promise to believers and their children. This is the essential error of the HalfWay Covenant, which abstracts God's covenant promise from the actual faith life of believing parents."
There are a lot of good questions here. One of them is if they should make profession of faith if they disagree with the confessions of the church or scripture, something in the arena of belief. The other is in the area of conduct. As to the first the questions that they would be asked would seem to preclude going forward, at least if you are using the forms in the psalter..."do you believe that the Bible is the word of God revealing Christ and his redemption, and that the confessions of this church faithfully reflect this revelation?"
The question of them being baptized or not brings up the question of what it means to be "in the covenant". "Not all who are in Israel are of Israel". When I dust off my Berkhof's Systematic Theology, I find a good chapter "The Dual Aspect of the Covenant" which speaks to some of these questions. There he talks about how within Reformed theology, there is an idea of the covenant as a "purely legal relationship" and as a "communion of life". When he applies this distinction to children of believers he says this "Experience teaches that though by birth they enter the covenant as a legal relationship, this does not necessarily mean that they are also at once in the covenant as a communion of life. It does not even mean that the covenant relation will ever come to its full realization in their lives. Yet even in their case there must be a reasonable assurance that the covenant will not remain a mere legal relationship but that it will in time become a living reality...as long as the children of the covenant do not reveal the contrary, we shall have to proceed on the assumption that they are in posessesion of the covenant life. Naturally the course of events may prove that this life is not yet present, it may even prove that it is never realized in their lives. God's promise to continue his covenant and bring it to full realization in the children of believers does not mean that he will endow every last one of them with saving faith. And if some of them continue in unbelief we must bear in mind what Paul says in Romans 9:6-8, they are not all Israel who are of Israel, the children of believers are not all children of promise. Hence it is necessary to remind even children of the covenant constantly of the necessity of regeneration and conversion. The mere fact that one is in the covenant does not carry with it the assurance of salvation. When the children of belieers grow up and come to years of discretion it is incumbent on them to acept their covenant responsibilities voluntarily by a true confession of faith. Failure to do this is, strictly speaking, a denial of their covenant relationship."
I don't agree with what all Berkhof says, but he brings up some good points, among them the need of children of the covenant to be reminded of the need of regeneration and conversion..."repent and believe"...in other words, go now beyond the "legal aspect" of the covenant and enter into the "communion of life." According to Berkof, the call to repentence would rightly apply both to baptized members and to unbelievers. If there is no life of repentence, can there be a true profession of faith?
Maybe a good common ground for answering that would be HC Q and A 33 where it talks about genuine repentance and conversion...when it asks what is involved in the dying away of the old self, it says "it is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it." Awareness of myself as a sinner doesn't translate into contentment with myself as a sinner.
Thanks for your honesty. I think that all of us are on the same bus. It would be great if we were all perfect upon our conversion or profession, but we'll have to wait for the new creation for that.
First thoughts...a theme in the conversation so far seems to have been not so much about the persistence of sin, but about a spirit of repentence vs. nonrepentence. In between now and that great day, the Spirit will continue to illuminate parts of us that we would rather not face, not only particular "sins" that we do, but the deep structures of fallenness within us that contribute to the persistence of those sins. When he does that, either immediately or through a member of the community of faith, we have a choice to heed that or turn away from that. Repentence, in that sense, is obedience, and obedience is at the heart of discipleship. We don't like it, it hurts when we do it, but we can't have the Christian life without it.
Fredrica Matthews Green says: "Repentance is not blubbering and self-loathing. It is insight. The insight is about our true condition. We begin to see our fallen inclinations the way God does, and realize how deep-rooted is the rottenness in our hearts. This awareness grows slowly, over many years, because he mercifully shows us only a little at a time. But he sees it all. His is like the eye of a surgeon, which sees through to the sickness deepest within. There is no other way for us to be healed. It’s when the surgeon says, "All we can do is keep him comfortable," that you’re really in trouble. .
"Sadness according to God," repentance, is joy. Initially we fear looking squarely at our sins, lest we get overwhelmed. But the reverse turns out to be true. The more we see the depth of our sin, the more we realize the height of God’s love. The constant companion of repentance is gratitude. Like the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, we are forgiven much and discover endless love. Seeing our sin becomes, paradoxically, an opportunity for joy."
To bring it back around, I've had conversations with people who held off on making profession of faith because they felt that they "weren't perfect enough yet." Thankfully, profession isn't about perfection. But it is, I think, the pledge of a life (and life style) of repentance.
Do you have a portion of your budget allocated for his expenses? Depending on how you structured things, I would think that that should be considered part of his salary and should not be considered a "free meal" at all.
I would recommend it. According to the 2008 Manual of Church Government (may be a more recent one, this is the only one I have) "In matters pertaining to certain items of facilities, other capital assets, and salaries, the council is required to seek the judgment of the congregation. As a corporate entity the council serves as the board of trustees of the congregation." Hopefully that answers your question.
In years past we've used worship litanies, etc.. from our denomination, from the PCUSA and the United Methodist offices. This year we had two of our friendship students lead a litany with one of the teachers focusing on being all one body in Christ. These students then collected the offering with some help from the deacons. We celebrated communion together to close.
Try "The Storm Breaks" by Derek Thomas, part of the Welwyn Commentary Series, "Crying out for Vindication" by David R. Jackson, part of the Gospel According to the Old Testament Series, and Mike Mason's "The Gospel According to Job".
Good questions. The first one I think of is 3. I don't charge a set fee, but leave it up to the individual situation. Sometimes I receive some sort of payment, sometimes a gift from the family, sometimes a card.
Posted in: Anyone Have a Communion Liturgy They Use for the Homebound in Their Congregations?
The RCA book of worship has a short "Order for Second Service" that might work well.
Posted in: What advice would you give for grandparents requesting a grandchild's baptism?
Jerry,
James Brownston has a book "The Promise of Baptism" where he devotes a chapter to this issue. If you can get your hands on it you might find it helpful.
Posted in: What advice would you give for grandparents requesting a grandchild's baptism?
Jerry,
I found the book. Brownston goes in some detail into the HalfWay Covenant in colonial history, where grandparents who had professed their faith would present their grandchildren on behalf of the parents who had been baptized but not professed their faith, "as long as the immediate parents were not involved in scandal and continued in the fellowship of the church".
After a couple of pages of discussion he says "The church should only baptize infants who have at least one parent who is a believer. By parent I mean someone who has a recognized and final responsibility for the care and nurture of that child. The question of who counts as such a "parent" may vary, depending on the cultural context. Some culturees have much more extended households where grandparents may exercise a significant role in the lives of children. But even in such cases, I believe the final determinant should be whether that "parent" has a recognized and final responsibility for the care of the child. The parent of a child is the person on whom this primary and ultimate responsibility rests. If this most basic parental relationship is not infused with the presence of the Spirit emenating from the life of a believer, then the household in which this relationship exists is not a believing household and the infant born to such a household should not be baptized on the basis of God's covenant promise to believers and their children. This is the essential error of the HalfWay Covenant, which abstracts God's covenant promise from the actual faith life of believing parents."
Posted in: When a young person who's living a sinful lifestyle wants to make profession of faith; what's an appropriate response?
John,
There are a lot of good questions here. One of them is if they should make profession of faith if they disagree with the confessions of the church or scripture, something in the arena of belief. The other is in the area of conduct. As to the first the questions that they would be asked would seem to preclude going forward, at least if you are using the forms in the psalter..."do you believe that the Bible is the word of God revealing Christ and his redemption, and that the confessions of this church faithfully reflect this revelation?"
The question of them being baptized or not brings up the question of what it means to be "in the covenant". "Not all who are in Israel are of Israel". When I dust off my Berkhof's Systematic Theology, I find a good chapter "The Dual Aspect of the Covenant" which speaks to some of these questions. There he talks about how within Reformed theology, there is an idea of the covenant as a "purely legal relationship" and as a "communion of life". When he applies this distinction to children of believers he says this "Experience teaches that though by birth they enter the covenant as a legal relationship, this does not necessarily mean that they are also at once in the covenant as a communion of life. It does not even mean that the covenant relation will ever come to its full realization in their lives. Yet even in their case there must be a reasonable assurance that the covenant will not remain a mere legal relationship but that it will in time become a living reality...as long as the children of the covenant do not reveal the contrary, we shall have to proceed on the assumption that they are in posessesion of the covenant life. Naturally the course of events may prove that this life is not yet present, it may even prove that it is never realized in their lives. God's promise to continue his covenant and bring it to full realization in the children of believers does not mean that he will endow every last one of them with saving faith. And if some of them continue in unbelief we must bear in mind what Paul says in Romans 9:6-8, they are not all Israel who are of Israel, the children of believers are not all children of promise. Hence it is necessary to remind even children of the covenant constantly of the necessity of regeneration and conversion. The mere fact that one is in the covenant does not carry with it the assurance of salvation. When the children of belieers grow up and come to years of discretion it is incumbent on them to acept their covenant responsibilities voluntarily by a true confession of faith. Failure to do this is, strictly speaking, a denial of their covenant relationship."
I don't agree with what all Berkhof says, but he brings up some good points, among them the need of children of the covenant to be reminded of the need of regeneration and conversion..."repent and believe"...in other words, go now beyond the "legal aspect" of the covenant and enter into the "communion of life." According to Berkof, the call to repentence would rightly apply both to baptized members and to unbelievers. If there is no life of repentence, can there be a true profession of faith?
Posted in: When a young person who's living a sinful lifestyle wants to make profession of faith; what's an appropriate response?
Maybe a good common ground for answering that would be HC Q and A 33 where it talks about genuine repentance and conversion...when it asks what is involved in the dying away of the old self, it says "it is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it." Awareness of myself as a sinner doesn't translate into contentment with myself as a sinner.
Posted in: When a young person who's living a sinful lifestyle wants to make profession of faith; what's an appropriate response?
Dave,
Thanks for your honesty. I think that all of us are on the same bus. It would be great if we were all perfect upon our conversion or profession, but we'll have to wait for the new creation for that.
First thoughts...a theme in the conversation so far seems to have been not so much about the persistence of sin, but about a spirit of repentence vs. nonrepentence. In between now and that great day, the Spirit will continue to illuminate parts of us that we would rather not face, not only particular "sins" that we do, but the deep structures of fallenness within us that contribute to the persistence of those sins. When he does that, either immediately or through a member of the community of faith, we have a choice to heed that or turn away from that. Repentence, in that sense, is obedience, and obedience is at the heart of discipleship. We don't like it, it hurts when we do it, but we can't have the Christian life without it.
Fredrica Matthews Green says: "Repentance is not blubbering and self-loathing. It is insight. The insight is about our true condition. We begin to see our fallen inclinations the way God does, and realize how deep-rooted is the rottenness in our hearts. This awareness grows slowly, over many years, because he mercifully shows us only a little at a time. But he sees it all. His is like the eye of a surgeon, which sees through to the sickness deepest within. There is no other way for us to be healed. It’s when the surgeon says, "All we can do is keep him comfortable," that you’re really in trouble. .
"Sadness according to God," repentance, is joy. Initially we fear looking squarely at our sins, lest we get overwhelmed. But the reverse turns out to be true. The more we see the depth of our sin, the more we realize the height of God’s love. The constant companion of repentance is gratitude. Like the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, we are forgiven much and discover endless love. Seeing our sin becomes, paradoxically, an opportunity for joy."
To bring it back around, I've had conversations with people who held off on making profession of faith because they felt that they "weren't perfect enough yet." Thankfully, profession isn't about perfection. But it is, I think, the pledge of a life (and life style) of repentance.
Posted in: Pastor Reimbursement of meals-Should his portion be a taxable benefit? (Canadian)?
Do you have a portion of your budget allocated for his expenses? Depending on how you structured things, I would think that that should be considered part of his salary and should not be considered a "free meal" at all.
Posted in: Pastor Reimbursement of meals-Should his portion be a taxable benefit? (Canadian)?
Dirk,
Thanks, that does clear it up for me.
Posted in: Is congregational approval required to lease part of our building?
Jim,
I would recommend it. According to the 2008 Manual of Church Government (may be a more recent one, this is the only one I have) "In matters pertaining to certain items of facilities, other capital assets, and salaries, the council is required to seek the judgment of the congregation. As a corporate entity the council serves as the board of trustees of the congregation." Hopefully that answers your question.
Posted in: How has your church celebrated disability week?
In years past we've used worship litanies, etc.. from our denomination, from the PCUSA and the United Methodist offices. This year we had two of our friendship students lead a litany with one of the teachers focusing on being all one body in Christ. These students then collected the offering with some help from the deacons. We celebrated communion together to close.
Posted in: What Reformed material is available for a small group study on the book of Job?
Try "The Storm Breaks" by Derek Thomas, part of the Welwyn Commentary Series, "Crying out for Vindication" by David R. Jackson, part of the Gospel According to the Old Testament Series, and Mike Mason's "The Gospel According to Job".
Posted in: What Wedding Guidelines Does Your Church Have in Place?
Rob,
Good questions. The first one I think of is 3. I don't charge a set fee, but leave it up to the individual situation. Sometimes I receive some sort of payment, sometimes a gift from the family, sometimes a card.