The Christian faith is composed of numerous divisions characterized by a shared belief in God. The divisions seen in the Christian faith originate from a difference in factors such as baptismal practices, belief in the trinity, belief in the pope, and the existence of heaven. The practices seen in modern churches have been passed down from the founding fathers and early theology scholars. Baptist religious bodies in the USA and across the world have grown based on a common tradition origination in the 17th century. For my Baptist Church experience, I attended the 10 o’clock Sunday service at the New Fellowship Baptist Church in Elizabeth town KY.
Summary of the Religion
The Baptism church traditions has put great emphasis on the atoning sacrifice made by Jesus Christ, the Lordship, baptism of believers, the Holy Spirit influence on believers and the church, believers’ ability to interpret the Scripture and build a relationship with God and the need to stay free from political and government interference (American Baptist Churches USA, n.d). The Baptist religion can be traced back to England when English Congregationalism in the 16th century, protested against the prevalence of the Church of England which encouraged baptism of children in which people in different communities belonged to a neighborhood parish (Fairchild, 2019). The Baptist rejected this existing structure and encouraged a religion where membership in churches is voluntary and baptism was limited to the believers only. In New Jersey, Baptist practices started in the 17th Century (American Baptist Churches USA, n.d).
The most conspicuous belief of the Baptist Church is Believers Baptism. They believe that baptism is a symbol that a person has accepted Christ as their Savior, and a representation of cleansing of all sins. This practice may differ across various churches where some practice baptism by full immersion while others sprinkle water on the believers (Casanova, 2018). Baptism is like a badge of Christianity and must be administered on a true believer only. It is a sign of the death of old ways and the birth of new ways as a means of sharing life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
One common practice by the Baptist is the Lords Supper or Holy Communion. The Lords Supper is a practice that allows believers to remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The practice allows believers to engage in a time of prayer and devotion. Another regular practice is Evangelism and Missionary work. Evangelism allows them to share the message of Christ with people across the world. The practice of Evangelism began in 1824 as noted by American Baptist Churches USA (Casanova, 2018)
My Experience at New Fellowship Baptist Church in Elizabeth town KY
My experience of the New Fellowship Baptist Church in Kentucky was that it is a place where all people are welcome and the word of God is shared. Through my visit, I learned more about the church, its purpose, its beliefs, its fellowship, worship and the origin of the church. To begin with, the congregation was warm and cordial, which gave me a sense of belonging just by being there. It is a church where you do not feel like an outsider for long since they believe that we are all part of Christ’s family. The church service was pleasant. The church is devoted to glorifying Christ by transforming people into ambassadors of Jesus and fully devoted followers. The church also aims in spreading the gospel locally and across the globe.
At the entrance, the ushers greeted me and handed me a brochure that contained the church service details, upcoming prayer activities, and evangelistic missions. The church is quite big and the church decor is amazing. The service began with a warm welcome from the Praise and Worship leader. We were led in a session of prayer to welcome the presence of Christ in the church. During the praise and worship time, the lyrics of all songs were displayed on the screens mounted at various points in the church, which allowed me to capture and sing along to the songs I was not familiar with. At the end of the worship session, one of the church leaders stood up and welcomed all guests. I was given another brochure with a part where I could write my details and hand over to the church ushers. All visitors interested in joining the church were directed to meet in a small room at the end of the service to learn more about the church details.
Before the sermon, was the announcements session. The sessions started with a video displaying a small background of the church. I was able to learn that the church was founded more than 3 decades ago by a man known as Pastor Paige Harding. Since then, the church has been working to fulfill the aim of helping people become the disciples of Jesus Christ and enable Christians to believe in the Supremacy of Christ above all other things in the world. Another video was played describing the many life-changing ministries set to be carried out by the church.
It was pleasing to learn that the ministry targets people across all ages including children, high school and college students and adults. This video explained that evangelism and missions are the duty of every Christian as Jesus Christ commanded people to make disciples from all walks of the world. Once a Christian receives Christ and anointing of the Holy Spirit, they should try to spread the love of Christ to other people through missionary work. Followers of Christ should take it as a responsibility to spread the teaching of Christ to all people. These practices have been well embraced by the church members and are in line with the practices of the Baptist churches in America.
On this day, the sermon was about the forgiveness of sins through the love of Christ. The pastor spoke of the story of the thief on the cross. The thief was able to realize that Jesus was the son of God and believed that Christ could help in entering the kingdom of Heaven. The church believes that Jesus is the only savior and He died so humankind would be saved (Fellowship Baptist Church, 2013).
During this church service, I was able to witness the baptism practice of the church. Two people were baptized on that day. The priest spoke about sin, salvation, and baptism as a way of starting a new life. He explained that through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, Christians are delivered from sin. Those who accept Christ and are baptized are cleansed of the old ways and start a new life. The pastor further explained that through deliverance and change from sinful conditions, Christians could become true followers of Jesus Christ. The two people were baptized after professing their salvation. The baptism is done through full immersion, which is a common practice among many churches in the Baptist religion.
After the sermon, came the offertory session. The ushers went around the church with small bags passing them across the congregation. On the screens, the account number of the church were displayed for those wishing to wire their tithes and offerings digitally. The offering gathered is used for various church activities including missions and salary for the church staff. The priest then prayed for the congregation after giving and later ended the church service.
As a first time visitor, I decided to go to the visitor’s room to learn more about the church. In this room, we were served with juice and snacks. It was an interactive session with smiles all over and making us feel quite welcome. As I left, I felt a great sense of belonging after being part of a congregation that encourages the love of Christ and oneness among the believers.
Baptists from other religions
Through my experience in this Baptist Church, I witnessed and learned of what sets apart Baptists from other religions. One of the unique beliefs is Baptism. While some Christian religions still conduct Baptism on children, The Baptists believe that baptism is only for believers who have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their only savior. Some religions like the catholic conduct baptism through sprinkling, but the Baptists have been fully immersed in water. Evangelism and mission are very important for Baptists. They believe in the authority of the Bible, which reminds Christians to go out and make disciples for Christ. This Church believes that the Bible is free of error and infallible and it is the word of God (Fellowship Baptist Church, 2013).
Despite the existence of numerous divisions in the Christian faith, the belief in God brings people from different denominations together. Attending the service at the Baptism church was an interesting and enlightening experience that enabled me to learn the practices and beliefs of Baptism churches and their connection with other Christian denominations. The teaching offered during the service aligned with concepts drawn from the Bible and other theological teachings.
References
American Baptist Churches USA. (n.d.). The Origins and Development of Baptist Thought and Practice. Retrieved November 22, 2019, from https://www.abc-usa.org/what-we-believe/our-history/.
Casanova, A. (2018, April 27). The Most Well-known Protestant Denomination: 10 Things Everyone Should Know about Baptists. Retrieved November 22, 2019, from https://www.christianity.com/church/denominations/the-most-well-known-protestant-denomination-10-things-everyone-should-know-about-baptists.html.
Fairchild, M. (2019, June 25). What Do Southern Baptists Believe and Teach? Retrieved November 22, 2019, from https://www.learnreligions.com/southern-baptist-beliefs-700524.
Fellowship Baptist Church. (2013). Our Beliefs. Retrieved November 22, 2019, from http://www.fbcky.org/our-beliefs.html.