CDM Archive

Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

Children

A Member of the Family

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Baptism divides Christian people.

On the one side are those who are convinced it is reserved for those who believe in Jesus. A minority within that group says it is necessary for salvation and an even smaller number says it’s only effective when done by their church.

There are also those who see continuity in the Old Testament signs of faith. Passover gives way to the Lord’s Supper. Circumcision is replaced by baptism.

The familial nature of faith is part of the essence of the redemptive story. But it was blurred when the revivalists of the 18th and 19th centuries, capturing the spirit of American individualism, emphasized the individual’s relationship with God to the virtual exclusion of the family. We live with that legacy today.

In a discussion of marriage, the apostle Paul said, “the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife” and vice versa. That is strong language. The least we might conclude is that a believing spouse provides some sort of covering for the unbelieving spouse. Perhaps implicit in this is that the unbelieving partner might be more open to faith in Jesus.

Even more compelling is Paul’s virtually throwaway line “otherwise your children would be unclean but as it is, they are holy.” (1 Cor. 7:14)

When a baby is baptized in the Presbyterian Church in America, the child becomes a member of the church. That recognizes the covenantal umbrella. The child belongs by virtue of the faith of the parent(s).

Sometimes it has meant that we assume too much. The gospel is not clearly and compellingly presented as the child grows. I believe that happened to me. But we might also assume too little, urging the child to pray the “sinner’s prayer” at the earliest possible opportunity. There is no magic in such a prayer. It might or might not signal belief. And a commitment to Jesus can be made without ever uttering the words to such a prayer.

We can’t take this challenge lightly. Money spent to help build up families and disciple children and young people will bear significant dividends. Examine your church budget. Where does the money go? Look at your statistics. What’s happening to your young people? Are your households maturing in the faith?

There are occasions when an unbelieving parent has had to stand or sit silently by while the believing spouse takes the vows of their child’s baptism. That’s appropriate but it ought to stir a restlessness to see the family united in faith.

There are many stories of congregations that have gotten used to the involvement of one spouse such that the other is virtually forgotten because he/she seldom if ever attends.

Many years ago a woman came by herself to our church in Connecticut. On one occasion I heard her say that she wished some man in the church would reach out to her husband. I decided to try and God blessed. After months of getting together to talk about anything and everything, always coming back to the gospel, he decided he was ready to follow Jesus. I wish I could say I’ve done that regularly. I wish that were a common practice in our churches.

Some of the most effective evangelism I know involves a believer inviting an unbelieving brother or mother or grandchild or adult child to services where the gospel is able to take root. The process might be more complicated in blended families but that’s where we are. So believing stepparents are presented with a great opportunity and challenge.

A synergism becomes possible when the church as the extended family builds up its households. And those households in turn build up the churches, which then impacts the community, enfolding others in the family of God.

Story, Doctrine, Life

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By Tom Patete. A toddler learns the language of faith as she memorizes the timeless truths about God in First Catechism. A first-time Sunday school teacher tells of his growth in the doctrines of grace through teaching the primary class. A sixth grader professes faith in Christ after lessons about Stephen in Acts 7. Parents report that their young teen began personal devotions as a result of being consistently taught God’s word in Sunday school. A recently divorced mother is comforted by her daughter’s reminder that God is sovereign.

These testimonies provide a small glimpse into the impact diligent Christian education can have. Not just any Christian education carries such weight, but only that which is doctrinally driven. Above all, it must be rooted in our Reformed heritage, biblically straightforward, and warmly personal. The fruit tells the story.

In his Great Commission, Christ defines and orders the church’s work. He calls us to be disciple makers ? to perpetually pass on the faith once delivered and to be instruments in God’s hands to see others and ourselves grow in grace. Everything we do in terms of internal nurture and external proclamation radiates from that central purpose.

The broad category we call Christian education is sometimes shuffled to the back burnerat least in our thinking and planning. Dr. Allen Curry, an OPC minister, professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, and one of CEP’s regional teacher trainers, states, “All too many people look at Christian education from the maintenance point of view.” (Equip for Ministry, March/April 2004.) By contrast, the solution is for us to be intensely intentional about nurturing God’s people and carry out that crucial function with every bit of fervor we can muster – that is, if we expect to be faithful to God’s calling and indeed be disciple makers.

R. B. Kuiper challenges us with this perspective: “The church must maintain a proper balance between its task to the inside and its task to the outside. But this does not mean that it should do a little of each. It means that it must do much of both.” (The Glorious Body of Christ, chapter 25)

From its beginning, the PCA has demonstrated a commitment to the priority of Christian education. Even before the first general assembly, plans were being discussed to encourage and facilitate leadership development, Christian day schools and catechetical training. Also, talks with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church had begun toward a partnership to adopt their Sunday school curriculum and other publications (see inset). Here is an excerpt from one of the CEP Committee’s earliest reports:

The church teaches because God has commanded her to do so … [and] he has decreed that the objective, propositional truth of his revelation is the primary means by which men are to be identified and sanctified.

GCP’s primary contribution always has been graded Sunday school curriculumcalled Show Me Jesusfor age two through high school. Building on the original curriculum inherited from the OPC, additional courses and components have been added plus multiple revisions over these 29 years to keep the materials fresh and up to date. Starting with fall quarter 2005, the elementary departments will be restructured into two-year groupings, grades one and two together, etc. Next, the youth-level courses will be redesigned for application in a variety of settings.

Sunday school stands as a central means by which churches nurture the flock, but what is the future of this venerable staple of the American church? Changing needs and patterns have put it under the microscope by church leaders todaywith many wondering if it should be recast or perhaps even replaced. If this is a “wasted hour,” as some have judged, it is a product, at least in part, of neglect and loss of focus. Future alternatives and new paradigms notwithstanding, we must set our sights on the purpose to which God has called us: go and make disciples. Sunday school or any other form Christian education takes has to be done with biblical clarity and life-changing consequence, or indeed it is a waste of time!

Psalm 78, sometimes called the Christian education Psalm, speaks of generational succession of the faith. In seeking to be obedient to every aspect of the Bible’s instructions for Kingdom building, we dare not overlook our responsibility to covenant children. In fact, this is where we begin. Susan Hunt reminds us that the strategy for church growth commences with the “Jerusalem” of our own homes, parents and children (chapter 5 of her Heirs of the Covenant explicates this further).

GCP’s resources are uniquely suited for our churches, both in form and content. First, Scripture is approached as a complete whole that embodies the unfolding story of salvation through Jesus Christ. Every passage ultimately points to and helps unwrap the entirety of God’s revelation to us, and the materials are covenantally focused. That translates into teaching that is moving toward the goal of bodybuilding- the body of Christ, that is. As students are confronted with their individual relationship to God via his faithful covenant promises and the ensuing spiritual connection to others, the covenant family becomes a dynamic reality to them and helps identify them with the corporate church.

Why do we in the PCA and OPC need our own curriculum when other options abound? The answer is rooted in our theology and our experience. Both denominations were formed around the issue of doctrinal integrity, and we pay close attention to staying in sync with our convictionsespecially as it affects our teaching ministry. Content is crucial to churches fulfilling this mandate with faithfulness and excellence.

GCP, unlike most curriculums on the market, is solidly Reformed in its theology. It does not present the Bible as a collection of unrelated stories that teach moral lessons. Instead, GCP recognizes that the message of Scripture, from Genesis through Revelation, is about redemption in Jesus Christ. It is a unified message. GCP helps our kids see the big picture and not just the individual stories.

The vision of GCP’s founders was to reach beyond our denominations’ boundaries with sound CE resources, and the outreach opportunities have increased significantly in recent years. Almost 40% of sales are now among other churches such as the ARP, RPCNA, Reformed Baptists, EPC, CRC and the conservative movement within the PCUSA. The impact of that expansion has been additional growth in our ability to develop new avenues of service within the OPC and PCA.

Dr. Kuiper makes the case that the church is to “give foremost attention to its covenant children” as we carry out the glorious task of teaching God’s Word. He further challenges us, “How necessary that the church teach its youth Christianity as a story, as a doctrine and as a life! Few if any tasks will bear such rich fruit … [and] insure the future of the church.” (The Glorious Body of Christ, chapter 34). His simple three-fold design: story, doctrine, and lifesupplies the grid for teaching that will be obedient and eternally worthwhile.

At GCP we design our work around the following objective: To be a catalyst for discipling God’s people at all ages … so they will be knowledgeable of Scripture in its entirety, committed to the tenets of Reformed doctrine as taught in the Westminster Standards, faithful in embracing a biblical worldview and equipped to live, worship and serve in the Kingdom with a God-centered focus. This articulates the Great Commissionspecifically the aspect we call Christian educationand the mission to which Christ summons us. Stay the course!

A Question from the Children’s Ministry Conference

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Question: Regarding the training of covenant children, how do you reconcile the covenant family concept (with the father as the primary teacher) with role of the church?


At the recent children’s ministry conference sponsored by Christian Education and Publications, during the final question and answer period a number of questions went unanswered due to lack of time. I stated that we would answer some of those in the “In Case You’re Asked” section of Equip for Ministry.

Several different people raised the question above. We have addressed this topic in back issues of Equip and in our seminars on reaching the millennial generation. It is a good question that gives us an opportunity to restate and reinforce what we believe is the proper approach to training covenant children. I was recently sent a book for possible review entitled It Takes a Church to Raise A Christian. For years we have been saying it takes a covenant family to raise a covenant child.

Now in saying that, we realize that the covenant people of God include both immediate families and extended families. So when we say it takes a covenant family to raise a covenant child, we mean to communicate both concepts of family. Actually, there is not a good Hebrew word for “family,” so when we hear that term we generally think only of our immediate family. Many of the Scriptures relating to this topic are actually referring to the broader perspective of the people of God.

The PCA Book of Church Order (BOCO) is a good reference to use in answering the question because it is so consistent with Scripture at these points. For example: In chapter two, “The Visible Church Defined,” the BOCO states, “The visible Church [is] before the law, under the law, and now under the Gospel, is one and the same and consists of all those who make profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, together with their children.” We further read in chapter six, “Church Members,” “The children of believers are, through the covenant and by right of birth, noncommuning members of the church. Hence, they are entitled to Baptism, and to pastoral oversight, instruction, and government of the church, with a view to their embracing Christ and thus possessing personally all benefits of the covenant.”

In chapter eight, “The Elder,” we read in summary that the elders are responsible for oversight of the flock which means that the local church elders have a responsibility to care for the people, to oversee their teaching, instruction, and training, to know the people including the children. “…They should visit the people at their homes, especially the sick. They should instruct the ignorant, comfort the mourner, nourish and guard the children of the church. 8-3.”

We skip to the questions asked at the time of baptism and see as the parents answer questions posed by the pastor, so the congregation is asked, “Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting the parents in the Christian nurture of this child?” [Emphasis added on all BOCO quotes above.]

Because of their Reformed theology, Presbyterians have a particular understanding of the covenant in the broader people sense. For that reason, we have always seen the responsibility for raising covenant children to be with parents and church working in tandem. Of course the immediate responsibility is given to the immediate family but the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments do not think simply of the immediate family.

Actually, as the covenant community of God, our biblical understanding of theology should drive our ministry to children. The church is in a key role of coordinating, facilitating, helping the covenant family know how to follow through with the vow listed above.

We must avoid extremes. There are those parents, and I will assume well-meaning ones, who take their responsibility so seriously that they believe they are the only ones responsible for the nurture of their children. On the other hand, I have encountered parents who by practice would maintain that through Sunday school and children and youth ministries, the church should take care of the spiritual nurture of their children. In reality, God requires that of the entire family.

Just yesterday I met with leaders of our children’s ministries in the PCA. It always amazes and disappoints me to hear that the parents seldom use the fine take-home papers that we (GCP) give to children in Sunday school. What tremendous opportunities they miss in those cases.

I know of churches that have split or splintered over this issue. I hope, however, that we would see the importance of uniting home and church to disciple God’s covenant children. Both the church and home should always remember that our covenant children are first God’s. We are his stewards in raising and nurturing them. We cannot afford to waste time arguing over whose responsibility.

At our recent annual children’s ministry conference (see news section of this issue) we showcased the many resources available to churches regarding children’s ministry. In addition, we also took a further step in our action plan of developing support networks for those in the PCA involved in children’s ministries.

Teammates, Not Competitors

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By Dean Conkle. Consider these great teammates, past and present, in sports:

In football past- Jim Marshall and Carl Ellers, part of the famous Minnesota Vikings defense.

In football present- Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison connecting with touchdown after touchdown.

In baseball past- Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams as referred to in the book Teammates Once, Friends Forever.

In baseball and basketball present- time will tell whether Alex Rodriguez and Derrick Jeter end up as great teammates for the Yankees.

Strong companies and products can be teammates:

Did you know that A&W, Black Fire, Barq’s, Crush, Dr. Pepper, Evian and Fanta are teammates under the Coca-Cola banner?

How about the fact that Mountain Dew, Code Red, Mug, Sierra Mist, Frappacino and Pepsi One are all on the same team under Pepsi-Cola?

Would it surprise you that Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC and Long John Silvers all call themselves teammates under the corporate name Yum Brands?

Teammates can be seen in many other areas of life. Teammates can and should be seen even in the church of Jesus Christ, among various ministries of His church. The purpose of this article is to help every reader see children’s ministries, youth ministries and other ministries as teammates with each other, not competitors. There’s an alternative to having hurt feelings about which ministry has the biggest budget or fighting over who can use the fellowship hall on Wednesday nights. There’s no contest over which ministry is held in higher regard with the Session; there is no need for competition between ministries over volunteers. The desire is to see how these ministries can work together not against each other, for the glory of God and the good of everyone involved.

We will prayerfully seek to answer the question, “What can children’s ministries, youth ministries and other ministries within the church do as teammates in God’s kingdom?” I believe that we have at least four answers to that question.

1. Have Complementary Purposes for the Various Ministries

I love to listen to a symphony orchestra playing a piece that emphasizes diversity yet harmony of that particular movement. The popular “Canon in D Major for Strings” by Pachelbel wonderfully illustrates this. Different instruments play different roles through different parts. Combined, it is beautiful and harmonious music. Each instrument contributes to the overall excellence of the piece. Each instrument is complementary to the other instruments. Together, they are breathtaking.

This is an incredible illustration because this is how it should be in the Lord’s church. Church ministries should be complementary to each other not in conflict with each other. Having clear purposes for our ministries is biblical. Christ had a purpose for coming down to His people (See Matt 20:28, John 10:10 and John 12:46). Paul had purpose in his life (See Phil 1:21, 2 Cor 5:9 and 1 Cor. 10:31). Paul’s words clearly imply that we should also have purpose as well. The church should also have an overall biblical purpose. Each of its ministries should have its particular purpose that falls under the umbrella of the church’s overall mission.

Three questions on discerning purpose:

Does your church have a biblically based purpose for the overall good of the church?

Do the children’s ministries, youth ministries and other ministries of the church have purposes that harmonize with each other and with the church overall?

Does the children’s ministry purpose flow beautifully and powerfully into the purpose of the middle school ministry, which in turn flows wonderfully and effectively into the high school ministry, which continues the strong flow of purposeful growth into the college/career group ministry, whose goal is also in line with the overall church’s mission? An important question to simply ask is how complementary are your church’s ministries?

2. Allow the Older Students and Adults To Be a Blessing to the Children

Is there a law that says you have to pay to breathe the air that is around you? Is there a rule against going outside on a beautiful day after being in a house for five days due to snow or rain? How about a law that every American must stay awake for twenty-four continuous hours once a week? The answer to all these ridiculous questions is no.

Is there a place in Scripture that states you can’t be a blessing to someone because you are older than they are? Absolutely not! Just how exactly can middle school and high school students, along with the adults of the church, be a blessing to the children within that flock? I can think of two general ways.

Youth can joyfully use their God-given spiritual gifts on behalf of the children. 1 Peter 4:10-11 states boldly that:

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”

Do we see any age restrictions in this passage, especially of older and more mature saints blessing children through using their God-given spiritual gifts?

Youth can also joyfully and prayerfully live out some of the “one another” passages of Scripture with them. In the Lord’s sweet strength we can, “greet one another” (Romans 16:16), “live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:16), “encourage one another” (1 Thess. 5:11), “pray for one another” (Eph 6:18), “love one another” (John 13:34-45) as well as live out many of the other “one another” commands peppered throughout the Bible.

A couple of questions to consider:

Are middle school and high school Christians able to begin to prayerfully discover, develop, and use their God-given spiritual gifts on behalf of others? Based on Scripture as well as personal observations of over twenty-one years in youth ministry, I think they are indeed able to do this.

Are students and adults aware of the wonderful by-product of serving others that Christ mentions in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to given than to receive.”?

I think it is true to say, that when we are a blessing to others, even to little children, we are indeed blessed ourselves.

3. Allow the Children to be a Blessing to the Older Students and Adults

Children really do say the darnest things:

Defining H20 and C02, a child said, “H20 is hot water and C02 is cold water.”

“The general direction of the Alps is straight up.”

“The people who followed the Lord were call the twelve opossums.”

“The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar”

And, “The word trousers is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and plural at the bottom!”

Children often say humorous things. They can do humorous things as well, even within the Kingdom of God. They can do good things, helpful things, things that can be a blessing to other people, even middle school and high school students.

While children might not yet know what their spiritual gifts are, they can be encouraged to prayerfully learn and live out the “one another passages” in the Bible. They can live out these commands towards their parents, their brothers and sisters, their classmates at church and school, to students in their church and neighborhood, and even towards adults who are part of the body of Christ.

The “one another passages,” apply to the children here. The only limit I see is in the “formal” teaching of one another. We can learn a lot from children around us. They can teach us or remind us of some wonderful truths. But Scripture is clear that God calls specific people to teach and give oversight to the flock (1 Tim 3:1-2 and Titus 2:1-5).

Here is an idea or two of how to help children be a blessing to the rest of the church, even middle school and high school students. Perhaps do a “One Another” study on Sunday night and encourage the children to prayerfully put into practice the “one another attribute” that they learned that week. When the study is done, have the children continue a class-wide emphasis on living out a “one another action of the week.”

4. Provide Frequent Whole Family and/or Church Wide Gatherings

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, many teammates have worked well together down through the decades, and it is the prayer of our hearts here at CE&P that children’s ministries, youth ministries and other ministries within the local church across the denomination would find themselves being excellent teammates with each other as well.

Various ministries of the church are different from each other but that doesn’t mean they can’t work well together for a common cause or event.

In at least five different letters, the Lord led Paul to use the phrase” fellow-worker” or “co-worker” concerning people that were helping him in the kingdom. In Philemon, Paul uses the phrase with Mark, Aristech’s, Dumas and Luke; while in 1 Thess. 3, Phil. 2, 2 Cor. 8 and Romans 16 Paul uses this term regarding Timothy, Epaphroditus, Titus, and Urbanus respectively. I believe it is biblical to view various ministries and those involved as co-workers or fellow-workers.

What can each of these church ministries intentionally doto demonstrate their connectedness? And how can doing this really be a blessing to all the families as well as to the church as a whole?

Some applications to consider:

Have different ministries work together to host a church-wide picnic.

Have various ministries work together to sponsor a family or church-wide skating night (with games everyone can play in the evening).

Have a Valentine’s Day party or dinner.

Have several ministries host a Reformation Party.

Have different ministries come together to sponsor one night of the church missions conference, utilizing those involved in each of the sponsoring ministries.

Have a few ministries collaborate on a church-wide BBQ/Pool Party or a church-wide “Lake Day.”

Have different ministries within the church team up to provide leadership for a church-wide service project (either on the church grounds or away from it).

It is our prayer that various ministries within the local church would work well together and bring out the best in each other. Great teammates are not limited to ball fields and corporate businesses. Great teammates can be seen also in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The goal is that our various ministries would work together as an intentionally orchestrated whole in a way that Jesus would be glorified. Viewing each other as teammates within the same overall mission will be a blessing to the whole of the church.

May God’s Kingdom be filled with ministries within the church where the participants view themselves as teammates not competitors with one another.

An Important Job

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You’re important. Important to the Kingdom.

But someone says, “I just teach a Sunday school class for two-year-olds.”

Our grandson, who just turned three, tells me “I know Jesus loves me.” I can’t say what’s in his mind when he says that but he’s beginning to get the heart of the Christian message.

No matter how sophisticated our formulations of the faith become, it all comes back to this simple realization. “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so.” Could we say “all I needed to know I learned in Sunday school when I was two?”

It’s not hard for me to imagine that little grandson being a stinker in a few years. This grandfather certainly was. I made most of my teachers miserable.

You’re trying to teach fourth grade boys and it seems like you’re hitting your head against a wall. How long do you put up with that before you say, “enough is enough?” God’s got his hand on some of those boys and he’s given you the great privilege of helping to shape them into the men they will become.

Every person in God’s family is important. There are no “little” people.

Those God has called to teach in the church have been given the responsibility to pass the faith on to the next generation. But the next generation isn’t learning and then they don’t know about Jesus’ love, or what they know is void of Christian content. So to say you teach a class in Sunday school, hear verses in Pioneer Clubs, do projects in Vacation Bible School or become a pal to some child-says that you have been given an incredibly important job.

Never take it lightly. But relax and enjoy yourself. Watch God at work.

Why Baptize Infants?

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chd-inside.jpgPeople often ask the important question of why Presbyterians baptize infants. Recently, a pastor asked if there was a way to ordain a person to the office of ruling elder who was reformed in everyway except he could not commit to “infant baptism.” I faced it as a pastor on one occasion and have responded to that question often as coordinator of CEP.

What makes the practice of infant baptism, also called covenant baptism, so difficult is that we equate baptism with one’s salvation. Once we do that we are not far from a position the Protestant reformers tried to correct- namely the doctrine of sacerdotalism. That means the sacraments are more than means of grace. They convey saving grace on the recipients. So to be saved, one has to have faith in Christ and be baptized.

Some are also confused about baptism in general and specifically infant baptism because the doctrine of the covenant is not understood. Baptism is a sign of the covenant of grace whereby we are saved. Who are to be the recipients of baptism? Believers and their children! In the book of Acts we read of certain adults being converted to Christ, being baptized, and their households with them, which obviously included children. God promises in the covenant of grace that he will be our God and the God of our children. Baptism is a sign of that covenant promise.

In the previous “In Case You’re Asked,” I dealt with teachings in the PCA’s Book of Church Order relating to the baptism of covenant children. Without repeating those references, I will expand on the covenant promise and the doctrine of children in the covenant.

Recently, I took part in a discussion that grew out of a series of questions:

How do we become children of God? What do we have to do to become a child of God? Are covenant children presumed elect and regenerate until they give us a reason to believe differently or are we to presume that they are unregenerate until we see signs of being born again? People have debated these questions through the years. But what difference does it make which way we go with this? After all, people on both sides agree that salvation is by grace through faith and there is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved.

The truth is that we baptize infants, neither to make them children of God nor to pronounce their salvation. They are already children of God and therefore heirs of the covenant promises. Baptism is not an empty sign. It is filled with deep theological meaning. It declares that the recipients belong to God, to a believing family, and therefore to the church of Jesus Christ. They are entitled to all the benefits of the covenant.

Several months ago I was sent a copy of a reprinted classic written sixty-three years ago. The book, The Presbyterian Doctrine Of Children in the Covenant, A Historical Study of the Significance of Infant Baptism in the Presbyterian Church, is byLewis Bevens Schenck, a professor at Davidson College, North Carolina for more than forty years. Schenck focuses on the argument between Charles Hodge and James Thronwell, two outstanding Presbyterian theologians and churchmen. Thronwell and Robert Dabney believed that “baptism makes the child a child of the covenant” while Hodge advocated that children were baptized because they were children of the covenant. Schneck maintains that because God’s promise to Abraham included children, they were to be identified. Therefore, the covenant sign of circumcision, the Old Testament version of New Testament baptism, publicly marked the children.

The children of the promise are sealed through baptism because “they are presumed to be partakers of the regeneration signified in baptism.” Frank James, professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, wrote in the introduction of this volume, “Schneck especially appreciates and follows Calvin’s broad understanding of regeneration which is understood to mean not only the beginning of spiritual life but progressive sanctification as well,” page xii. (We refer to “progressive sanctification” in the book Life of Faith by A. W. Pink in the review section.)

In America since the second great awakening and the beginnings of the revival movement, there has been a steady de-emphasis on the covenant and its meaning among Christians. The revivalistic view posits there has to be some big event in a person’s life leading to his or her conversion. (See the book review Live to Tell in this issue.) That doctrine takes the heart out of God’s covenant promises. There has been the tendency to view even our covenant children as outside the parameters of the covenant until they repent and believe. Hence, we must evangelize our covenant children. It is true we must disciple our covenant children by teaching them who they are and the significance of their baptism from the very beginning. But we must also help them understand the necessity of believing in Christ and repenting of their sins. That means that believing parents disciple their children by treating them as covenant children, rather than assuming that they are not until a particular time.

Bob Palmer reminds us in the lead article of God’s great displeasure over his people’s neglect of the covenant and its signs. Schneck goes to great lengths to point out that neglecting to baptize our covenant children is tantamount to ingratitude toward God and neglect of our children’s spiritual well being. Frank James says this about believing families who presume their children to be unregenerate, “This was intolerable and detrimental to the child, not to mention the fact that it betrays the covenantal structure of God’s relationship with his people,” page xv.

In the discussion mentioned above, someone asked me what real difference it makes whether we presume covenant children are elect or are in the process of being regenerated. I responded, “It makes great difference both in how we view covenant children and how we train and instruct them.” We disciple covenant children on the presumption that they are children of God and are to be baptized and taught all things whatsoever Christ has commanded. We do not presume that they are children of the darkness; that would cut across everything that the covenant promise represents.

Baptism is a sign and seal with great biblical and theological implications. And just as we did not establish the covenant, neither did we determine the sign of the covenant. Those were God’s gracious and loving acts. God is the signifier and signified in baptism whether it be for a covenant child or a covenant adult. I like to remind the people during a covenant baptismal service, especially of an infant, that this event marks the beginning of teaching this precious covenant child who he or she is in Christ and what this sign of baptism signifies. It is not merely a ritual. Certainly it contains mystery but God reveals his truth to us in order that we might understand and obey him. When we participate in baptism, by faith we will see the very hand of God working through his promises to us and to our children.

To conclude, Schneck writes, “The covenant idea of education had been extensively supplanted in the popular mind and ‘well nigh lost’ to the world. The principle of the Reformed faith, that the child brought up under Christ influence should never know a time when love to God was not an active principle in its life,” (page 153).

I would use Schneck’s book in a seminary Christian education course or among the local church leadership. I do not believe that it is possible to read this book without it profoundly affecting your participation in the sacrament of baptism as a church member. So in case you’re asked why we baptize infants, be prepared to respond with grateful and gracious assurance, “Because they are children of the covenant. They belong to the King and his sign and seal are to identify them as his.”