Baptism Statement: Jasmine Jones

Tell us your faith story. 

Prior to Pres House, I did not participate in any religious community. My family never attended church, not even for major holidays like Easter or Christmas. In fact, I don’t think I could even tell you why a lot of people went to church on Easter until I was probably 17.  Despite the absence of religion in my home, I still knew that religion was something that many people participated in. Through media, social relationships, and school projects, I learned that religion was something a lot of people had and I didn’t, and with tim,e I began to realize that I wanted it.

At Pres House, I was able to learn what Christianity was. I learned parts of the Bible through scripture reading every Sunday. During sermons, I would often hear about Jesus, and though I knew his name, it was at Pres House that I discovered who he was and what he did. At Pres House, I was able to explore what it means to be a Christian and if that was something I wanted to do.

For the future, I hope I grow more confident in my faith. For a long time, I have held onto the fact that I wasn’t raised Christian. This sometimes gives me impostor syndrome in Christian spaces, especially when it comes to taking leadership roles. While this is something that is a part of my Christian journey and it does shape my perspective, I hope that in the future, it does not remain a defining point of who I am as a Christian. I hope I can feel confident taking up Christian space and feel secure with my place within the church.

Why have you chosen to be baptized? 

I’ve spent time discerning if the Christian label was something I would use – if I would identify myself as a Christian. I knew I enjoyed the community Christianity often provided, I appreciated Christian values like love and forgiveness, and I found the story of Jesus compelling. Despite these things, it still wasn’t a clear decision to me. To say I was Christian was more than just saying I believed the ideas of Christianity; it would be marking myself as a member of this specific community. This larger community includes people with different theological beliefs from me. For the past year now, I have been using the word Christian to describe not only my religious beliefs but also my spiritual community. I feel settled with the term now, so I think being baptized is the next step of accepting and living into the label.

Christians use a variety of images and metaphors to describe the sacrament of baptism. Which is most meaningful to you, and why?

I think baptism is commitment. It is committing to your faith journey. Throughout life, there will be events that challenge your faith and times when a once familiar presence becomes distant. To be baptized is not to be ignorant of these facts of life but to acknowledge them and be prepared to face them. Baptism gives us the strength to face these challenges because through baptism, God reaffirms his commitment to us: to stand with us in our sorrow and to seek us when we stray.

Baptism is also a commitment to community. Through baptism, you are brought into God’s family on earth. The thing that makes a family special is unconditional love. In a family, there is a shared understanding that no matter how much we fight or differ, there will always be love. I believe that when you join God’s family on Earth, you are asked to have that same commitment of love. You are asked to love your brothers and sisters in Christ despite your differences and disagreements. No family is perfect, even the ones we choose. In baptism, we choose to join an imperfect family and commit to loving them unconditionally.

Jasmine Jones is a senior studying elementary education.