Yesterday, an elder and his family from our church board came to our place for an 'interview' for church membership. Ladger and I finally finished with our 'homework' last weekend and were able to hand it in on Sunday. Here's some things I learned about the Alliance Christian & Missionary Association. It's founder was A.B. Simpson who was born in P.E.I. and who became a Presbyterian minister in Ontario. I was surprised because this denomination is much stronger out west than in the Maritimes! Really interesting to this Maritimer.
While Simpson was pastoring a church in the US, he started seeing that Missions was absolutely crucial and started this association as a mission - not a church. Churches started as a secondary mandate. It is important that our churches make missions a priority and not become too focused on our own backyard, so to speak. It is considered an alliance of many evangelicals from many different denominations and so the doctrinal statement leaves room for disagreement on non-essential issues such as Post versus Pre - Tribulation.
Simpson eventually had to leave the Presbyterian church because he became convinced that adult baptism was the correct scriptural interpretation. Covenant theology teaches that infant baptism is the sign of the New Covenant just as circumcision is the sign of the Old Covenant. We tend to see a model in the New Testament that clearly indicates baptism after conversion and tend to have our babies dedicated - although this is not considered a sacrament like marriage, communion, etc. It is more just a public statement by the parents that they will raise their child in a godly family with the support and prayers of the congregation. I think the idea was started as a way to 'present our children at the temple' just as Jesus was.
So this Sunday, Ladger and I will be received into membership.
Tonight is 'splurge' club. I'm looking forward to it as I've missed it for the past couple of months and I've worked hard at getting some of the house cleaned up today (namely our room which has been sadly neglected for too long) so I will really enjoy the opportunity to sit back, relax and visit with some great gals in our area!
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