Sacraments

Receiving the sacraments is vital part of our faith journey. A sacrament is visible sign of God’s invisible grace. In the United Methodist Church, we offer two sacraments: Baptism and Holy Communion.

BAPTISM

Are you considering baptism? We are here to help you in making this important decision. In baptism, we remember Jesus’ baptism by John in the waters of the Jordan River.

We are baptized by both water and the Holy Spirit. The waters of baptism signify the cleansing power of God’s forgiveness. Through baptism, God forgives our sins and raises us into a new life in Christ. A person can be baptized through sprinkling, pouring or full immersion.

Baptism invites us into the family of God. Baptism incorporates us into the Body of Christ. Baptism is available for all ages including infants. We believe God is working in a child’s life before they are aware of it. Infant baptism is God’s way of publicly claiming this child’s life and providing parents and congregations an opportunity to make promises to raise this child in the Christian faith. Later in their life, baptized children can go through our confirmation class (offered to 8th graders) and decide to claim the faith for themselves. If you would like to talk more about baptism for you or your child, please contact Rev. Will Zant at will@haygoodumc.org.

HOLY COMMUNION

Holy Communion is a shared meal of bread and grape juice in which we experience the presence and love of God. We celebrate Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month at our 11 am worship service.

SACRAMENT

Communion, like baptism, is an outward and visible sign of God’s grace at work within us. In Communion, we remember and participate in Christ’s final meal with the disciples. We thank God for the grace extended to us through Christ. This meal is commonly referred to as Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper and Eucharist.

INVITATION

As United Methodists, we share in an open table. This means there are no restrictions on who can participate. All are welcome. As we say in our communion liturgy, “Christ invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another.”

ELEMENTS

The bread and juice represent the body and blood of Christ which is given to us as a sign of his sacrificial and redeeming love. These two simple elements embody the sacrifice Christ made on the cross.