How Do I Get Wet?

(A description of the process of baptism.)

OK, so you read our "Getting Right With God" and "What is Baptism?" pages, and you know that baptism somehow completes the process of accepting Christ. Unfortunately, you have never seen a baptism (or you can not remember what happened at the baptism you saw). That is the purpose of this page—to fill in the few "mechanical" details for you.

According to the Bible, any baptized Christian can perform the baptism by immersing the people who want to get right with God in water. To actually perform a baptism, it may help to construct a short checklist. For example:

1. Wear something you can get wet in (a swimsuit works fine).
2. Start with a group prayer, asking that God guide everyone.
3. Have the person being baptized get in the water. Whether they stand, kneel, or sit depends on whether you are doing the baptism in a swimming pool, spa, or bathtub. (Note: if you are using a bathtub, make sure there is enough water in it to completely immerse a person!)
4. Have the person being baptized pray silently, telling God that they know Jesus can save them, and that they repent of their past sins. Typically, this will take anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute.
5. After praying, have the person being baptized confess verbally to those present "I accept Jesus as my Savior and Lord."
6. Using that as a cue, the Christian doing the baptizing lowers the person being baptized into the water saying, "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The person being baptized only needs to be under water for a second or two, and may find it a good idea to hold their nose with their fingers to keep water from getting in their nose.
7. Raise the person out of the water. Dry off everyone. Celebrate.

By the way, these "steps" and the people's "lines" are not official. They are merely an example in case you have not seen a baptism. (If you are concerned that special words are needed, click on this sentence for an explanation.) As you can see, baptism does not require an elaborate ceremony, and can be done in about 5 minutes anywhere you can find enough water to immerse someone.