What Baptists believe, and how they worship
Baptists are evangelical Christians known for baptizing only those old enough to profess their own faith, and for the independence of each local congregation. In Ontario most Baptist churches belong either to the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec or to the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches.
What Baptists believe
Baptists share the core convictions of evangelical Protestantism: the Trinity; the Bible as the inspired Word of God and the final authority for faith and practice; the deity of Jesus Christ, his death for sinners and bodily resurrection; salvation by grace through personal faith in Christ; the new birth; and Christ’s return. What makes a church Baptist is a cluster of convictions about the church itself. Baptists practise believer’s baptism: only those who can confess faith for themselves are baptized, and by immersion, as a picture of dying and rising with Christ. The New Hampshire Confession (1833) calls baptism “a solemn and beautiful emblem” of faith in the crucified, buried and risen Saviour. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are “ordinances,” acts commanded by Christ that picture grace rather than convey it.
Baptists also hold to the autonomy of the local church (no outside body governs a congregation), the priesthood of all believers, “soul liberty” (each person answers to God for their own faith) and the separation of church and state. A church is understood as a gathered fellowship of believers who have covenanted together, so membership follows conversion and baptism rather than birth.
In Ontario there are two main Baptist families. The Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ), organized in 1888, is the older body; its statement This We Believe affirms the historic evangelical faith while allowing congregations some latitude, and it ordains women. The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, formed in 1953, is more conservative: its statement of faith affirms the inerrancy of Scripture, and most Fellowship churches reserve the office of pastor or elder to men. Both have congregations in Wellington County. Reformed (or Sovereign Grace) Baptists, who hold the 1689 London Confession, and Southern Baptists of the Canadian National Baptist Convention also have churches in the region.
Worship: what a service is like
Baptist worship is not fixed by any prayer book, so churches differ, but the pattern is recognizable. Most services open with twenty to thirty minutes of singing — hymns with organ or piano in more traditional churches, a worship band with contemporary songs in many others — followed by announcements, a pastoral prayer, the offering and a children’s segment before the kids leave for their own program. The heart of the service is the sermon, typically thirty to forty-five minutes, usually working through a book of the Bible or a series on a theme, with people following in their own Bibles. Pastors dress in ordinary clothes and the room is plain.
The Lord’s Supper is observed monthly in most churches, with bread and grape juice passed along the pews or served at stations, open to all who trust in Christ. Baptisms are joyful occasions: candidates give a short testimony and are immersed in a baptistry built into the platform or, in summer, in a river or lake. Babies are not baptized but “dedicated,” with parents promising to raise them in the faith.
How Baptist churches are organized
Each Baptist church governs itself. Members meet regularly to approve budgets, call a pastor and make major decisions, and most churches are led day to day by a pastor (or pastoral team) with deacons; a growing number, especially in the Fellowship, are led by a board of elders. Churches join voluntary associations for shared mission, training and accountability, but the association cannot dictate to the congregation. CBOQ churches gather in an annual Assembly, support Canadian Baptist Ministries, the national mission agency, and look to McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton for training. Fellowship churches in Ontario belong to FEB Central and support Heritage College and Seminary in Cambridge and the Fellowship’s international missions. Women are ordained and serve as pastors in the CBOQ; in the Fellowship, women serve in many ministry roles but generally not as senior pastor or elder.
Compared with Reformed churches
Baptists and Reformed Christians agree on a great deal: the authority of Scripture, salvation by grace through faith, the need for personal conversion, a sermon-centred service and a congregation that takes doctrine seriously. Reformed Baptists share the Calvinist understanding of God’s grace, and the 1689 London Confession follows the Westminster Confession closely. A Baptist would find the preaching in a Canadian Reformed church familiar.
The chief difference is baptism and the view of the church behind it. Reformed churches baptize the infants of believers, understanding them to be included in God’s covenant (Heidelberg Catechism, Answer 74), and children grow up as members who later make public profession of faith. Reformed churches are also bound together: consistories send delegates to classis and synod, whose decisions bind all the churches, and office-bearers subscribe to the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dort). Worship looks different too: two services each Sunday, one preaching through the Heidelberg Catechism, Psalms sung to Genevan tunes with organ, and a fixed order of votum, greeting, law, confession and blessing. Baptists are warmly invited to visit the local Canadian Reformed church.