LIFE EVENTS
Baptisms
We are glad that you have chosen St. James as the place for your baptism! In baptism, God seals us by the Holy Spirit and marks us with the cross of Christ forever. Baptism is for the sake of life in Christ and in the body of Christ, the Church. The congregation plays an important role in baptism, so we make every effort to celebrate the sacrament of baptism during one of our regularly scheduled worship services.
Holy Baptism is administered with water in the name of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The baptized are welcomed into the body of Christ. This is the community which lives from “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Funerals
At a person’s death, the church shares the grief of those who mourn and remembers the brevity of life on earth. At the funeral, we give voice to sorrow, thank God for our loved one, and entrust this companion of ours into the hands of God. Trusting in God’s promise in baptism that we are claimed by Christ forever, we rest in the sure hope of the resurrection. When the church gathers to mark the end of life, Christ crucified and risen is the witness of worship, the strength of mutual consolation, and the hope of healing. (ELW, p. 279)