Let me begin by quoting one of the times Jesus addressed baptism:
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” ~ Matt. 28:19-20a
- Baptism is important. Jesus said to do it.
- Jesus said to baptize “them”, which is a pronoun referring to the word “disciples” in the clause just before. (This is the reason that Good News Church baptizes people after they’ve become followers of Jesus rather than before.)
- It seems that the people Jesus told to do the “baptizing” are the same people He told to do the “disciple-making” and also the same people He told to do the “teaching them to observe everything I’ve commanded.” (This is the reason that Good News Church does not limit baptizing to ordained pastors alone. It seems to us that any “disciple-maker” can and should baptize a person they have led to the Lord.)
While it’s true that 5-year olds can profess faith in Jesus Christ by parroting back what their parents told them to say, we think it’s wise to wait until a child is older to ensure that they are professing a faith that is truly theirs. Technically, we’ve never officially decided on a minimum age for this. However, we think that encouraging parents to wait until the professing child has reached the age of twelve is good advice.