Baptism is a sign of God's love for us and of Christ's grace extended to us. In baptism God claims persons as his own and marks them as peculiarly his, heirs of the covenant of grace. Baptism signifies and represents the forgiveness of sin, the engrafting into Christ, the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives, and the death and resurrection to new life. It is both proclamation and affirmation. It proclaims that God's grace and love reach out to people before they are able to respond, and it affirms our new identity as members of the body of Christ. It sets people apart form the rest of the world, and claims them as participants in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
     No person is worthy by her or his own merit to receive the gift of God's grace conferred and proclaimed in baptism. Whether it is a believer who is baptized or a child of a believer, each is totally dependent on God's grace and forgiveness freely offered in Christ through his church.
     Baptism is an act of worship of the whole church. It should, therefore, ordinarily be administered in the context of corporate worship. If there are compelling reasons to administer the sacrament in some other context than the regular worship of a congregation, members of the congregation should still be present and scripture, proclamation, prayer and affirmation of the faith of the congregation should be a part of the act.
     The meaning and significance of baptism are never limited to the person receiving the sacrament, but its benefits relate to all, as those present who have been baptized recall their own membership in the covenant community, the claim of God upon their own lives, and their dependence upon God's grace and forgiveness freely given.
     The nature and character of baptism dictates that it can be administered only once to each person. The sign and seal once administered last for the whole course of our lives.
     The proper recipients of baptism are believers and their children. The sacrament is to be administered by an ordained minister.