Immersions (Baptisms)
Immersion Signup Form
Here at Emmanuel we do immersions twice a year. We do them at our Shavuot (Pentecost) and our Rosh Hashana picnics. Immersions are a biblical way of affirming an internal decision in an external way. The immersions can express one or more decisions:
1. Responding to Salvation
2. Turning Back to God
3. Embracing Israel and the Jewish People
Since each of these decisions is internal, between you and God, you don’t need to give a testimony as often is required. However, it might be edifying to anyone who is witnessing this to hear what you are expressing through your immersion. That’s up to you.
The biblical method of conducting immersions is quite different than modern immersions, which vary across denominations. In Baptist immersions, the clergy person gets into the water with the person and usually leans him or her backwards, pronouncing a trinitarian formula based on Matthew 28:19. Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian and other immersions aren’t typically done; instead, a little water is sprinkled or placed on the head of an infant. This is somewhat based on circumcision, which is an act of the parents on their 8-day old baby boy. That act, based on scripture, brings a boy into the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jewish girls have a later ceremony.
To prepare for your immersion, you’ll need to wear a bathing suit or shorts plus some sort of shirt or cover up. You can also wear long pants. You will actually stoop down into the water and get completely covered. A mikvah is the tank in which this takes place. We don’t have a mikvah at The Gathering Place so we use other bodies of water. The ceremony is actually called t’vilah and takes place in a mikvah.
If you want to be immersed at the picnic, please fill out the form below.
1. Responding to Salvation
2. Turning Back to God
3. Embracing Israel and the Jewish People
Since each of these decisions is internal, between you and God, you don’t need to give a testimony as often is required. However, it might be edifying to anyone who is witnessing this to hear what you are expressing through your immersion. That’s up to you.
The biblical method of conducting immersions is quite different than modern immersions, which vary across denominations. In Baptist immersions, the clergy person gets into the water with the person and usually leans him or her backwards, pronouncing a trinitarian formula based on Matthew 28:19. Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian and other immersions aren’t typically done; instead, a little water is sprinkled or placed on the head of an infant. This is somewhat based on circumcision, which is an act of the parents on their 8-day old baby boy. That act, based on scripture, brings a boy into the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jewish girls have a later ceremony.
To prepare for your immersion, you’ll need to wear a bathing suit or shorts plus some sort of shirt or cover up. You can also wear long pants. You will actually stoop down into the water and get completely covered. A mikvah is the tank in which this takes place. We don’t have a mikvah at The Gathering Place so we use other bodies of water. The ceremony is actually called t’vilah and takes place in a mikvah.
If you want to be immersed at the picnic, please fill out the form below.