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Baptism at Platte Woods Church
At Platte Woods Church, all are welcome to be baptized, regardless of age, race, gender, orientation, nationality, education level, social status, or mental capacity.
We offer baptism training every 2nd Sunday of the month. To start your baptism journey, click the link below!
Baptism is God's work of cleansing us of sin & beginning the work of renewing us fully into the image of Christ. Through baptism, one experiences the justifying grace of God & the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit. Using water, one can be baptized in various ways: immersion (going under the water), pouring (having water poured over one’s head), or sprinkling (having water sprinkled on one’s head). The United Methodist Church recognizes one baptism and once baptized, one is initiated and incorporated into the universal Church.
Baptism Checklist
Are you considering baptism at PWC? Here is are a few steps to consider.
Talk with your family and think about some of the questions you may have.
Scroll down to our Baptism FAQs and check out this page on United Methodist Baptism.
Have you been baptized at another church? Check our FAQ for next steps.
Baptisms are experienced in a community. All baptisms take place during worship on the 4th Sundays of the month.
Fill out PWC’s Baptism Request Form
Planning Your Baptism Experience
Baptisms are incredibly meaningful experiences that usually include family members and friends. You will learn more about your path to baptism after you submit a request form, but this will help make tentative plans.
Even if you are still considering when and how, fill out PWC’s Baptism Request Form
Baptisms take place in worship on the 4th Sundays of each month.
PWC hosts baptism training every 2nd Sunday of the month. You can attend a training in a different month than you were baptized (e.g., Jan. training, March baptism)
Plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the service in which you will be baptized (e.g., arrive no later than 9:15 to be baptized at the 9:30 contemporary service).
We will reserve seating for you and any attendees.
Baptism FAQ
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Anyone! United Methodist tradition teaches that baptism is available to all people. If you are taking this step in faith for yourself or for your child, all are welcome.
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United Methodists do not re-baptize those who have already received Christian baptism. We believe baptism is ultimately an act of God, and God does it right the first time.
God has done all that is needed in baptism, whenever it happened in the life of the person who was baptized. Baptism is the initiation, the beginning, of Christian life. In baptism, we believe God has been faithful to start a person on the path to the fullness of life in Jesus Christ. The United Methodist Church recognizes as Christian baptism any baptism offered by an authorized person, in water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
PWC often holds space for opportunities to remember your baptism. What we are called to remember in reaffirmation is the gift of God's grace, not a particular event. Through appropriate remembrances and celebrations, our children can be enabled to "remember" their baptism as much as they "remember" their physical birthday.
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In all forms of Christian baptism, God claims those being baptized, whatever their age or ability to profess their faith, with divine grace. Clearly an infant can do nothing to save himself or herself, but is totally dependent on God's grace, as we all are -- whatever our age.
Most traditions that practice or recognize as valid the baptism only of believers -- those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ for themselves in some public way -- practice baptism not as a means of grace by which God saves and claims us, but rather as a further act of public profession and/or an act of obedience to the command of Christ that his followers be baptized. That is why these "believer's baptism only" traditions generally refer to baptism as an ordinance -- an act ordained or commanded by Christ -- rather than a sacrament. The term sacrament means "an oath" and refers to God's covenant with us (first of all) and ours in response to God's gracious provision of salvation in Jesus Christ.
United Methodists recognize the baptism of "believers only" traditions, provided those traditions baptize people in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as generally understood in historic Christianity. We offer baptism to people of all ages who have not previously received Christian baptism in any form. We do not rebaptize those who have already received Christian baptism in any form. Even when the people being baptized are believing adults and are ready to profess their faith, our first emphasis is upon the gracious action of God who establishes the covenant of baptism with us rather than upon the individual's decision.
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No. The theological understandings of the two services are very different. Dedication is a human act -- something we pledge or give to God. Baptism is a divine act, a pledge and gift God gives to us. Baptism of infants includes the reaffirmation of the vows of the baptismal covenant by parents, sponsors, and the congregation; but chiefly it celebrates what God is doing and will do in the life of the infant.
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No. We no more wait for our children to decide about being in the family of God than we wait for them to decide if they would like to be a part of our human family. As parents, we make many decisions -- in matters of health, safety, education, for example -- for our children. Of course, they may later reject what we have done for them. But this possibility does not relieve us of the responsibility to do all that we can for them spiritually, as we do in other aspects of their lives.
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No, our church has always offered to people being baptized and to the parents of infants the choice of sprinkling, pouring, or immersion.
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In services of profession of faith and confirmation before the congregation, we respond to God's grace by repenting of our sins, declaring our faith in Jesus Christ, and becoming professing members of the church.
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No, salvation is a lifelong process during which we must continue to respond to God's grace. Baptism offers the promise that the Holy Spirit will always be working in our lives, but salvation requires our acceptance of that grace, trust in Christ, and ongoing growth in holiness as long as we live.
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No, but baptism is a gift of God's grace to be received as part of the journey of salvation. To refuse to accept baptism is to reject one of the means of grace that God offers us.
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We are so glad that you trust PWC to walk this journey with you. Please feel free to reach out to our Pastors to help with any other questions you have!
