We are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to enter our new life.

• Does baptism mean that we will never sin again? No, but we now begin a life where the Holy Spirit is working on us, strengthening us to grow in faithfulness -- and correcting and forgiving us, as parents do with their children, when we fall.
• Does baptism mean that our life will now be easy and everything will go our way? No, we still live in this broken world, but we are strengthened with assurance that our work to heal the broken world in Jesus' name will be fruitful.

    At Salem we baptise adults who seek new life in the Lord -- who are making a decision for the Lord. And we also baptise children and infants because we acknowledge that the power and action of baptism is the Lord's work. It is a means of grace for the Lord's forgiveness and renewal. Through the water and the Word, God comes to us and redeems us. So infants are adopted into the Lord's family because their parents want this new life in the Lord for their children. Later, at approximately junior high age, young adults are given the opportunity to affirm their baptism from their own adult sensibilities in the Rite of Confirmation.