The baptism of my son Noah, and of small children in general

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Pergamum

Ordinary Guy (TM)
I rejoice to report the following:

My 6-year old son, Noah, is now professing faith in Christ and is asking for baptism.

This has been uncoached by us and we have actually taken a skeptical approach and have asked him to think hard and question everything.

However, Noah knows who Jesus is, he knows the basic doctrines of the Trinity, the God-Man-ness of Jesus and the bible doctrines of sin, atonement and salvation. He prays for forgiveness for his sins, tells us that he loves and believes in Jesus and says that our purpose in life is to love God and serve him. He knows and understands much of the catechisms. On one occasion when I asked him about how someone can know they are saved, he responded that we love Jesus because He first loved us and died for him (Noah) to suffer for his sins so that Noah would not have to, and that we love God and thus love others and ought to be ready even to die for others because Jesus died for us. In short, Noah seems to give some solid answers.

Noah now desires baptism. He is asking for it.

So, I need your counsel.

Here is my present situation:

At present I am away from my sending church and trying to plant a church among a remote tribal people.

I am ordained and sent out by my sending church with the commission to establish new churches among the unreached.

There are also several tribal youth whom we are checking in their understanding and might consider baptising 3 of them this next year... they also appear to believe.

However, among children and tribals it is hard to determine whether they are merely parroting back to you what they think you want to hear or if there is truly a work of grace going on in their hearts.

We thought of baptizing Noah here in the village, with me administrating. However, the only "church" here is my family and the Dani evangelists and a few possible tribal believers. No local church has been particularized and this does not really happen here anyway.

Also, a parent baptizing his child might sound nice, however, I might prefer someone else do it. For some reason it seems to lack as much legitimacy if a parent baptises their own child, though I am an official recognized church officer here. I might desire myself and Jimi Weyato, our most faithful evangelist officially sent by the indigenous church body with which I work, to baptize him simultanously, one on each side. Thoughts?

We also thought of waiting until 2014, when we come home on furlough and having the pastor of my home church baptize Noah. However, I am always leery of delaying baptism needlessly if Noah shows strong evidence of salvation now (although, on the other hand, I am also leery of premature baptism, which often happens here..a bunch of baptized pagans is what this province is full of...).

What would you advise about my 6 year old son Noah? What in general do you recommend when small children report faith in Christ?

Thanks,

--
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p.s. I am a reformed baptist, not paedo. Keep that in mind when answering. I welcome paedos to respond too, but my aim is not to debate baptism but to seek counsel given my present convictions as a credo.
 
I don't think there is any reason to rush into anything. However, there is nothing illegitimate about baptizing your own children if you are a called and approved minister of the church. (I have baptized 4 of my own children as the Pastor of their church. I also administer the Lord's Supper to them. It is my duty to do so.) It sounds like what you are longing for is the very legitimate idea of having them baptized in the presence of YOUR church, which on the other side of the world.

Anyway, praise God for Noah!
 
Does Noah understand baptism?

I think the Ethiopian had it right, "What hinders me to be baptized?"

I think baptizing your own son is wonderful. However, I would ask a mature brother to talk to him to affirm Noah's understanding of Christ. He's used to you and how you think. And, let's face it, parents want to see their children saved. I think you caution is warranted. Perhaps this route would help.

It is a precious gift to see our children come to faith in Christ.
 
It's great news! But you may need to resist trying to peer into your son's heart (or that of any candidate for baptism) to determine whether or not he is saved. You can't do it and it's not your job. If your son makes a credible profession faith and shows some fruits of repentance, I think for you to suspect he may later renege will not be helpful to him. Rejoice with him for what God has done in his life, and show that you eagerly expect God to continue his work in him.

Pastorally, this means that if you decide to have him wait to be baptized, I think you should avoid giving the impression that you aren't sure enough of his faith. If he waits, the reason should be for the betterment of his faith, not because he doesn't yet measure up.

Given what you've reported, it sounds like he's at least on par with most of the Baptist kids I work with who get baptized, and ahead of many of them, though younger than most. Of course, I'd baptize them as babies if it were all up to me, but that's water under the bridge by the time they reach this age.

He's a young disciple expressing credible faith and wishing to be baptized. I think the burden is on you to show why it would be better for his Christian growth to wait. For sure, you must not suggest that you have doubts God is truly at work in him.

If you do baptize him now, I very much like the idea of involving other church leaders besides yourself. Make it clearly a church event, not a family one. Perhaps the indigenous evangelist could help examine him too.
 
I was baptized at age 7 by my father (ordained Reformed Baptist pastor) after an examination by our other elder. I wasn't baptized right as I made my profession, there was a several month interval as my parents sought to examine my pattern of behaviour to see if it was truly different. It may have helped them to see that I had been under conviction of sin for a considerable time before my profession. Some may disagree with this, but, I believe that it is important to test a profession of faith and this inevitably takes time. We can't be certain, and, we still make mistakes, but, as elders and shepherds of the flock we are entrusted with overseeing it and protecting it from false professors as best as we are able (Acts 20:28-29). I think it's helpful to get a second opinion (which is partly why I believe baptism is a church ordinance and not a private one). If you would like some help from a Reformed Baptist standpoint, this book by Dennis Gunderson might be helpful.
 
I was baptized at age 7 by my father (ordained Reformed Baptist pastor) after an examination by our other elder. I wasn't baptized right as I made my profession, there was a several month interval as my parents sought to examine my pattern of behaviour to see if it was truly different. It may have helped them to see that I had been under conviction of sin for a considerable time before my profession. Some may disagree with this, but, I believe that it is important to test a profession of faith and this inevitably takes time. We can't be certain, and, we still make mistakes, but, as elders and shepherds of the flock we are entrusted with overseeing it and protecting it from false professors as best as we are able (Acts 20:28-29). I think it's helpful to get a second opinion (which is partly why I believe baptism is a church ordinance and not a private one). If you would like some help from a Reformed Baptist standpoint, this book by Dennis Gunderson might be helpful.

Are you talking about a waiting period only for children? Does the biblical pattern (at least for adults) not seem to link profession and baptism more closely in time--the jailer, for instance?
 
Great! Really great!!!
When so young understand that baptism is important it's really God's grace to him and to your family also.
 
I was baptized at age 7 by my father (ordained Reformed Baptist pastor) after an examination by our other elder. I wasn't baptized right as I made my profession, there was a several month interval as my parents sought to examine my pattern of behaviour to see if it was truly different. It may have helped them to see that I had been under conviction of sin for a considerable time before my profession. Some may disagree with this, but, I believe that it is important to test a profession of faith and this inevitably takes time. We can't be certain, and, we still make mistakes, but, as elders and shepherds of the flock we are entrusted with overseeing it and protecting it from false professors as best as we are able (Acts 20:28-29). I think it's helpful to get a second opinion (which is partly why I believe baptism is a church ordinance and not a private one). If you would like some help from a Reformed Baptist standpoint, this book by Dennis Gunderson might be helpful.

Are you talking about a waiting period only for children? Does the biblical pattern (at least for adults) not seem to link profession and baptism more closely in time--the jailer, for instance?

There does not appear to be any biblical examples of a significant delay between a profession of faith and baptism. This is more reminiscent of what took place in the early church when catechumens were made to wait (sometimes up to 3 years!) before they were baptized. There were pragmatic reasons for doing so (e.g., making sure none were spurious converts who would fall away during periods of persecution), but there is no example of this practice in the Bible, nor can one be inferred (besides, it's not as Christians in biblical times did not undergo persecution).
 
I also see no waiting period for baptism, though obviously we do not want to baptize spurious professors.


I think we will baptize him soon.

The main deciding factor for me is that he himself is requesting it. The "what hinders" question hangs heavy on me and I cannot see anything that does hinder me.


Some of the calvinistic baptists who are big on local church issues say that baptism is only to be linked to a local church. But I am in a church planting situation and the believers here are not part of an organized local church or a particularized congregation. There is my family, 3 Dani evangelists whom I believe to be saved, and a horde of local tribals, one or two might possibly be saved.

In the NT I do not see particular local churches as gatekeepers for baptism.

In Scripture I do not see that baptism is linked to formal local church membership, but we are baptized into Christ and then we naturally join with God's people. Baptism is a church ordinance and performed by church officers and is the first visible public testimony of a Christian, however, I don't see that one particular local church is the gate-keeper for this. We are baptized into Christ and into His Body, the Church universal and then, afterwards, we are expected to have local fellowship. Several instances of baptism in the NT were outside the church and being "added to the church" seems to signify more that they are now God's people and does not merely mean being added to a local chuch's membership rolls (especially since in Acts 2 it was mostly out-of-towners who were added to the church).

Just as many people and pastors advise waiting, and the same number suggest baptizing immediately upon a clear profession of faith. Some say that I could cause harm by baptizing now without waiting for more proof and others advise that I could cause harm by waiting and discouraging him when he seems a good candidate now and asks for baptism.

Thoughts?

---

A final observation: I also sent out my question to my email group:

The Presbyterian and more evangelical responses generally favored baptism without adding a waiting period. My own circle of sovereign grace baptists however, by email, mostly suggested waiting for fear of baptizing one who is not yet saved.

Among Presbyterians there was more emphasis on discipleship afterward and "improving" one's baptism and among calvy baptists there was more of an emphasis on checking the candidate to avoid a false start.

I am credo baptist but admit that the focus on later discipleship rather than trying to peer into the hearts of the candidates and even delaying baptism without biblical precedent in order to make better sure that Noah is saved makes more sense.
 
I join with you and those who are praising God for Noah's confession of faith. I also favor baptizing him without a waiting period (in keeping with the general Presbyterian response!)
 
Some of the calvinistic baptists who are big on local church issues say that baptism is only to be linked to a local church. But I am in a church planting situation and the believers here are not part of an organized local church or a particularized congregation. There is my family, 3 Dani evangelists whom I believe to be saved, and a horde of local tribals, one or two might possibly be saved.

Unless there is some other group of believers where you are, I'd say you are the church of Jesus in your corner of the world, with the appropriate level of organization for your situation. Paul and crew baptized Lydia in a place where there was no "particularized congregation" anywhere on the continent. In a missionary situation, the church begins with baptism rather than the other way around.
 
Here is my response and decision. Thanks for your counsel. I wish I had more of you brothers here to work alongside me and give me closer counsel.


I really appreciate the many well-thought out responses.

Pastors, your replies are very widely varied! In many ways, this encourages me, because it shows me that this is not a totally clear issue and so my lack of certainty was warranted.

I agree that caution must be exercised in the baptism of any candidate, adult or child. Below are some evidences which Noah has shown.

More on Noah: His request for baptism has not occurred overnight. For a year now he has expressed spiritual desires and interest. Starting 6 months ago he stated that he would like to believe and he prayed almost every night for just such a thing. At that point he said, "I want to believe but I am not sure whether I do or not." So he continued to pray for true faith and true repentance. He often told me, "I don't know if I can go to heaven because I am not very good and I know I don't deserve heaven."

The last 3 weeks, however, he has initiated many conversations with me and was very very happy and told us that he is saved now, and that now he knows. Along with this seems to have come a greater love for Jesus too and a real joy. When he is playing alone he sings to himself ("how I love Jesus...because he first loved me..") and has even prayed at non-set times and un-encouraged by us. He wants to pray for sick kids here in the village and when he sees a naked kid or a particularly poor looking kid, he asks us to give the kid some of his own limited toys or clothes or some of his candy out of his (limited) candy supply.

There seems to be a sensitivity and a conviction for sin. For most of this year he stated "I cannot go to heaven by myself because I do bad things sometimes." Now he states that even though he knows that he cannot do enough good things to get to heaven, that he knows Jesus paid for his sin and Jesus is perfect so that he can go to heaven because of what Jesus did. When he does something wrong, he has come and reported it to us, and even when he doesn't know we are watching and he has accidentally bumped into Alethea or when Alethea tests him or hits him (she is a bruiser) Noah has tried to apologize or hug or teach Alethea. One time when he thought he hurt a Korowai kid (they were playing rough) he came and sat and wept and told us that he was afraid that he hurt him and he didn't want to hurt anyone. He seems to be a very sensitive soul.

There is also a desire to hear more about God and the Bible. His ears perk up and he requests us to read the bible together. He likes to lay and talk at night and asks many theological questions.

He wanted to be a soldier earlier this year, but now since he has been saved he says that he desires to tell people about Jesus. He says, "Daddy, you are old and will probably die sooner than me. But I am young and I might live a long time. This means that God can use me a lot longer. I want God to use me" When talking about persecution that happens in many places here in I____, Noah has stated "It is better to die than to not tell people about Jesus. Daddy, if I tell people about Jesus and they kill me, then we don't have to worry because I will go to heaven."

NOTE: We have never asked Noah if he desired to be baptized.

He initiated this process and approached me and told me he wanted to be baptised.

Thus, this was uncoached and I would have continued for years otherwise, except for the fact that Noah himself now requests baptism and I am struck by the same words of the Ethiopion "what hinders?" I cannot think of anything that does, in fact, hinder him from being baptized.

Finally, it is not as if he is just newly hearing the Gospel, Teresa teaches him daily and they pray together several times per day such that the discipleship efforts towards Noah have been quite intensive and involved, much more involved than the efforts of early disciples in Acts 2 or the Ethiopian or the Jailor, which occurred during periods of short time.


Other issues:

local church issues: Some of you men responded that baptism should only be done in my local church. However, if baptism ought to be linked to a local church, what should missionaries do in a remote setting where they are trying to plant a new church? What then is their local church?

My local gathering here is made up of my family and several Dani evangelists (the 3 presently in my village I believe to be saved) and a horde of unsaved tribals, one or two of which might be saved. We are at the beginnings of a church plant...yet God's people are here and so it would be possible to baptize Noah in the presence of this church-planting team and any of the tribals who might be saved.

This "church" here in this village is not organized or particularized. Some might call it a mission station or a preaching post.

In Scripture I do not see that baptism is linked to formal local church membership. We are baptized into Christ and then we naturally join with God's people. Baptism is a church ordinance and performed by church officers (or those otherwise appointed by the church) and is the first visible public testimony of a Christian, however, I don't see that one particular local church is the gate-keeper for this. We are baptized into Christ and into His Body, the Church universal and then, afterwards, we are expected to have local fellowship with other believers.

Several instances of baptism in the NT were outside the church and were not done in local church contexts but were performed, instead, by those going out from chuches to evangelize new areas. Being "added to the church" seems to signify mainly that a person is now part of God's visible people, and does not merely mean being added to a local chuch's membership rolls (especially since in Acts 2 it was mostly out-of-towners who were added to the church).


Caution, adding additional requirements not found in Scripture, and the dangers of premature baptism:

Again, the pastoral responses to my email inquiry were widely varied. Just as many people and pastors advised me to wait as they did to baptize immediately upon a clear profession of faith.

Some say that I could cause harm by baptizing now without waiting for more proof and others advise that I could cause harm by waiting and discouraging Noah with additional requirements not found in Scripture when he seems a good caniddate now and asks for baptism. After all, profession of faith and baptism were closely linked in the NT without significant delay. And yet, I do grant that we do not desire to baptize spurious professors.

The story of my own baptism:

When I was 18 I was not a member of a church. I was actually sort of leery of church after attending several unsound churches very briefly that only told stories.

My dear friend Steve Thiemann gave me tapes from Bible Baptist and engaged me in constant spiritual conversation for about 2 years and then at age 18 I began reading the New Testament seriously. When I got to Romans chapter 4 I knew I was saved. I also knew that, despite not being a member of a church, that my first step in public commitment to Christ was to be baptised. I saw no good reason why I should delay. So I found my uncle who was a pastor and he baptized me. Then, immediately afterwards I began attending a church, Bible Baptist, and I grew in slow regularness in attendance until any leeriness about churches was quenched and I joined Bible Baptist a year and a half later. They have been the only church I have ever been a member of and have mentored and trained me to be useful and are like family to me and or now my sending church as I try to plant the Gospel among an unreached tribal group. However, I was not baptized "into" their local fellowship, but they recognized my baptism as valid because I sought it out after my conversion.

Some would say that my baptism would thus be "irregular" since I sought baptism as my first action after knowing myself to be saved, even before I joined myself to a local body. However, I would assert that this sequence is valid and may mirror some of the NT example we see such as the Ethiopian, et al. I saw no reason for delay but in my zeal to obey the Scripture I saw that baptism must follow belief, and so I aggressively sought out a way to obey the Scriptures. If Noah has inherited my same personality, it may be that he, too, is now aggressively seeking to do what he sees is the first step of obedience in Scripture and this is why he himself is requesting to be baptized rather than passively waiting.

The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force and I do not want to get in the way of my bold little boy if he is trying to obey Jesus.

Noah says that the tribe will probably laugh at him at his baptism (they will). But that this doesn't matter because he believes in Jesus and wants them to see. "It only matters what God thinks" Noah says.


The ordinances in general: I do not want to put additional requirements on an ordinance. Some pastors call baptism and the Lord's Supper as "means of grace" - and if this is so, why would we deny these means to one who appears to believe and who desires to enjoy these privileges? The dangers of denying a probable child of God these means might be greater than the danger of giving the ordinances to those upon a credible professsion without rigorous tests or additional time-delays.

Among some sovereign grace churches that believe in a very formal and institutional view of the church, I have noticed very cautious approaches to both baptism and the Lord's Supper in a way that their strictness would even prohibit some believers from partaking of the ordinances for fear of a lack of carefulness. For instance, the subject of the Lord's Supper is also relevant here.

The Lord's Supper among more rigidly institutional baptist churches: I know some of you men pastor churches which practice a very strict policy of closed communion. However, on two occasions during furlough I have visited and even preached in churches which support my missionary efforts. These churches give me monthly support, and they open their pulpits to me. However, due to their policies on "closed communion" I am formally unable to take the Lord's Supper with these two churches.

Something, however, seems wrong with that.

If I can preach or give a missionary update and be financially supported as "one of their own" then surely it should be assumed that, even though not a local church member there, I am a Christian who is fit to partake of the Lord's Supper when visiting. In the New Testament, I do not see the churches as being as formal and institutional as we have made some of our churches.

The desire of these churches seems to be to stay pure and to guard the table, but it seems that these might fall into the danger of needlessly withholding something for which Christ commanded to His people as an enjoyment and a privilege and a means of strength. This may be even more grievous.

I believe it is just as bad to be too strict as it is too lenient. There may be as much danger in withholding as there is in granting the ordinances without tests or probationary periods. I think this applies both to baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Checking candidates: While we must check candidates, Noah seems to exhbit better proof than most adult baptismal candidates. I do not see any evidence of delays in baptism in the NT. Those clearly who were false teachers John the Baptist told to bring forth fruits meet for repentance, but in the book of Acts we seem to have a pattern of missionaries or sent-out ones going forward and when meeting a person who professed faith, baptizing them as soon as possible (outside of a local church). Of course, it is assumed that these new believers then would join themselves to the christian community and seek out Christian fellowship (even if the Christian fellowship and understanding of church membership in the early church was more familial and not as institutional and formal as we now understand it to be here in the US).

The household baptisms, furthermore, in the NT do not necessarily prove infant baptism, but there is a strong probability that there were at least some children who could sing and praise God and who followed their parents in baptism in only a short period of time.

There is also a chance that an adult will fall away and doubt their previous baptism. This, therefore, does not seem to be a sufficient reason for long periods of delay. It is true that children may not remeber their baptism as well, however, and this may be a reason for some pastors to advocate delay.


My decision:

This Sunday we will be baptizing Noah. I will lead and Jimi Weyato, a Dani evangelist, will assist me. Jimi is also examining Noah. It will be done in public and in front of our church-planting team and also the tribals. We are committed to subsequent vigorous discipleship towards Noah for the rest of our lives.

I have asked counsel of Pastor Tom Henry at Bible Baptist, my sending church. He states that while cautions are good, that I am the person working on the ground and need to decide, and that this is a joyous occasion, indeed, and reminded me that we are to suffer the little ones to come to Christ and not hinder them. I thank God for Pastor Tom and his mentorship.

While I would rejoice if we could share this experience with our home church in the USA on our next furlough in 2014, I see that Noah desires to do a good thing now in obedience to Christ, that his evidences have been steady and over a period of time, and that there does not seem to be adequate justification for long delays.

So, we are going to stop the chariot because we have no adequate reason to delay when asked, "What hinders" and we will go down into the river on Sunday.

God bless,
 
Seems like you've thought it out well to me Pergy. As long as he's wanting to be baptized in identity with Christ and not with man in some form (peer pressure or because others are doing it or for attention or something akin) it seems clear from a bazillion miles away. :)
 
Are you talking about a waiting period only for children? Does the biblical pattern (at least for adults) not seem to link profession and baptism more closely in time--the jailer, for instance?

For purposes of clarification: We baptize and receive into membership applicants on a case by case basis that considers all factors. Some cases are clear, others are not as clear. I suspect that in practice we are identical to most credobaptist baptisms in most Reformed Presbyterian churches, but, to be fair, I know more about the OPC and PCA and I don't know about your church's practices. I suspect we would be similar.

I am speaking generally here and not specifically to the case of Noah. Generally, we have a policy that we won't receive anyone into membership that does not clearly demonstrate a changed life and the fruit of the spirit. Children raised in Christian homes are sometimes (not always) more difficult to identify because of their upbringing in the Christian culture, their love for pleasing their parents and their general immaturity compared to a pagan adult convert like the Phillipian jailer. Or, even in terms of his pagan family who came from complete ignorance to faith in Christ - it would not be hard in a formerly pagan family to find evidence of radical change. So, sometimes it's crystal clear and instantly discernable like that as it was for many conversions in the book of Acts - and praise God for that! And, sometimes it's not. As elders we are responsible to oversee the flock. Sometimes the motives for seeking baptism are discernibly not pure (parental or peer pressure/expectations etc.) and it is our job as elders as best as we're able to interview and seek to identify true believers. In the process do we set arbitrary waiting times or ages? No we don't. It is determined on a case by case basis. In my case, my parents and the elders of my church chose to move more slowly (although a few months seems hardly that long a waiting period, and, for us we have to find and reserve a church with a baptismal tank). Should they have baptized me sooner? It's not for me to say - I trust the judgment of the God-ordained elders of the church.

I understand that yours (Anna) and your husband's (Pastor Tim's) theological understanding of the ordinance of baptism is fundamentally different than ours and so some of the decisions that we make especially with regard to children and timing you will disagree with and I respect that. I have no desire to engage in a Presbyterian/Baptist debate on this topic. I offered my response in this thread as a Baptist pastor to a Baptist missionary. Ultimately, as per our polity, I would point my brother back to your sending church for counsel which I assume he has already done. I hope that clarifies my statement. May God bless you as you consider your actions.

Every blessing,
 
I agree with Pastor Johnson and Jack as brother Martin said and I praise god for Noahs profession of faith in Christ alone as his savior.
 
Pastor Chris Powell:

I have checked with my home church out of my respect for them. But, they have already commissioned me and I am able and have the right to baptize and give out the ordinances and preach already such that I need not gain permission for every churchly act from my sending church. If such things were demanded of missionaries and all pastors sent out to plant new churches, this would really mess up the forward progress of the Gospel.
 
Are you talking about a waiting period only for children? Does the biblical pattern (at least for adults) not seem to link profession and baptism more closely in time--the jailer, for instance?

For purposes of clarification: We baptize and receive into membership applicants on a case by case basis that considers all factors. Some cases are clear, others are not as clear. I suspect that in practice we are identical to most credobaptist baptisms in most Reformed Presbyterian churches, but, to be fair, I know more about the OPC and PCA and I don't know about your church's practices. I suspect we would be similar...


...I understand that yours (Anna) and your husband's (Pastor Tim's) theological understanding of the ordinance of baptism is fundamentally different than ours and so some of the decisions that we make especially with regard to children and timing you will disagree with and I respect that. I have no desire to engage in a Presbyterian/Baptist debate on this topic. I offered my response in this thread as a Baptist pastor to a Baptist missionary. Ultimately, as per our polity, I would point my brother back to your sending church for counsel which I assume he has already done. I hope that clarifies my statement. May God bless you as you consider your actions.

Every blessing,

In all fairness, nothing I wrote was paedo vs credo, but only about biblical justification for delay.
 
Pastor Chris Powell:

I have checked with my home church out of my respect for them. But, they have already commissioned me and I am able and have the right to baptize and give out the ordinances and preach already such that I need not gain permission for every churchly act from my sending church. If such things were demanded of missionaries and all pastors sent out to plant new churches, this would really mess up the forward progress of the Gospel.

I'm not sure you understood me. Nothing is "demanded of" you. What I was saying was in terms of general polity and missiology, if there is a situation on the field where one is unsure as to how one might proceed, one might expect that your first line of questioning after considering the situation in your context, might be to seek out your fellow elders who (along with the congregation) commissioned and sent you out. At least, when I was an intern at a large Reformed Baptist church in the USA with numerous foreign missionaries on multiple continents (even in difficult to access areas) that is how it worked. The elders in the US were often consulted as a support network for the missionary in the field. In some cases they even went to help out. The missionary was considered a partner on a foreign field. Now, of course he chose what he brought to his fellow elders. In other words he had a certain level of autonomy - it was not an authoritarian situation, it was a support role. Perhaps your situation is different and I overgeneralized based on my experience. My only goal here was to be of assistance to you.
 
Early Church history from Acts and beyond shows no waiting period.
If I had a child who professes Christ and understands what he or she is professing I would baptize my child. I'm Credo in my baptism beliefs so like you I wait for profession before baptism. Your son Noah has made that profession known, baptise your son. As for not having a church with you. My friend God's church is with you, it just may not be a big number. Go baptize your son and rejoice for his profession.
 
Pastor Chris Powell:

I have checked with my home church out of my respect for them. But, they have already commissioned me and I am able and have the right to baptize and give out the ordinances and preach already such that I need not gain permission for every churchly act from my sending church. If such things were demanded of missionaries and all pastors sent out to plant new churches, this would really mess up the forward progress of the Gospel.

I'm not sure you understood me. Nothing is "demanded of" you. What I was saying was in terms of general polity and missiology, if there is a situation on the field where one is unsure as to how one might proceed, one might expect that your first line of questioning after considering the situation in your context, might be to seek out your fellow elders who (along with the congregation) commissioned and sent you out. At least, when I was an intern at a large Reformed Baptist church in the USA with numerous foreign missionaries on multiple continents (even in difficult to access areas) that is how it worked. The elders in the US were often consulted as a support network for the missionary in the field. In some cases they even went to help out. The missionary was considered a partner on a foreign field. Now, of course he chose what he brought to his fellow elders. In other words he had a certain level of autonomy - it was not an authoritarian situation, it was a support role. Perhaps your situation is different and I overgeneralized based on my experience. My only goal here was to be of assistance to you.

Okay Chris, thanks I agree. Yes, I use my local church a great deal in asking for advice. They offer counsel, even while being wise in not trying to govern missions practice from 1,000 miles away. We are agreed.
 
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