Celebrating Profession of Faith in Worship

We’re baptized in the presence of our faith community, and when we’re ready to say yes to God and affirm our baptism, we should do that in community too.

This is also an excellent time to express gratitude for the way our church family has fulfilled its promises to “love, encourage, and support” us “by teaching the gospel of God’s love, by being an example of Christian faith and character, and by giving the strong support of God’s family in fellowship, prayer, and service,” as promised in baptism.

In this section you’ll find ideas for celebrating a profession of faith in a worship service.

Articles

The Reformed Worship article One Lord, Four Questions, and Three Stories by Roger Van Harn says that when faith in Jesus Christ is publicly confessed, three stories converge: the story of Jesus Christ, the story of the church, and the story of the individual confessor.

Worship Service Plans and Songs

Meaningful Mementos

  • Quilters at Maranatha CRC in Lethbridge, Alberta make a quilt for each student making profession of faith. Each square of the quilt is a house, representing the many households that make up the church and who will be praying for the person making POF. Also included on one of the squares is the student's favorite Bible verse.
  • A book. The devotional book Seeking God's Face: Praying with the Bible through the Year from Faith Alive Christian Resources is especially appropriate.
  • A certificate. Profession of faith certificates are available from Faith Alive. Some churches have also designed their own certificates, such as these certificates from Rosewood Church in Bellflower, California. 
  • A hand towel. Faith CRC in Sioux Center, Iowa, gives special hand towels to persons professing their faith to remind them of their role as servants of Christ.
  • A signed Bible. New Life CRC in Abottsford, B.C., gives Bibles to people who profess their faith. Four weeks before the public profession, the Bibles are available in the church so that members of the congregation can highlight meaningful verses and write in the margins what those verses have meant to them.
  • The person’s testimony in a frame. At First CRC in Sioux Falls, S.D., people who are professing their faith write a one-page testimony. The pastor prints it out on parchment paper, frames it, and gives it to the people at their public profession.

Profession of Faith Practices

  • At Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church, those who make profession of faith or are baptized bring a stone to lay at the foot of a cross--something that all charter members did when the church's new building was erected.
  • At New Life CRC in Abbotsford, B.C., when professions of faith are taking place, those professions become the sermon as the congregation hears God’s Word proclaimed through them.
  • At Cornerstone CRC in Chilliwack, B.C., parents (and other significant people in the young person’s life) are invited to present a Scripture verse to their child during the profession of faith segment of the service.
  • Personalize the liturgy. Mention the person’s name during the children’s message, sermon, congregational prayer, and in the blessing/sending portion of the worship service.
  • To highlight that profession of faith is just the beginning of a lifelong walk with God, “commission” the individual to ongoing discipleship. Have the person kneel, and lay hands on the person as a prayer is offered for ongoing growth toward the goal of becoming more like Christ. Brookside CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich., does this, inviting family, elders, and others involved in the person’s life to come forward and surround them for that prayer.

Celebrating with People with Intellectual Disabilities