Article8: Ordinances
Section 1: General Statement
There are two ordinances of special significance which our Lord has commanded us to observe, namely, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Neither of these ordinances has saving merit, nor is any grace automatically imparted to the recipient. These ordinances are means of grace and precious aids to the faith of believers.
Section 2: Baptism
Only confessed disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ are proper candidates for baptism, and all such persons should be baptized and joined to a local church (Acts 2:38, 41, 47; 5:13, 14). Believing that baptism in water is the God-ordained sign of one's personal union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection and the door of entrance into the visible community of the people of God, we shall receive into the membership of the church only those who have been baptized as believers "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19). Immersion in water is the biblical mode of baptism. A true believer, however, whose baptism involved an irregularity of mode or circumstance may be recommended for membership at the discretion of the elders.
Section 3: The Lord's Supper
While Baptism is the initiatory ordinance by which one enters the visible church and rightfully should be observed only once by each believer, the Lord's Supper should be celebrated frequently by the assembled church (1 Cor. 11:26). This is a holy ordinance and should be observed with solemnity and dignity. Yet, the bread and the cup of the Supper are and remain only symbols of the broken body and the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In order to maintain the purity of this ordinance, the elders will faithfully seek to ensure that only true believers who are members in good standing of true churches are admitted to the Table. True believers whose church membership involves unusual circumstances may be admitted at the discretion of the elders. The elders shall insure that the Lord's Supper is celebrated regularly by the church.