By this present act, having attained to years of understanding, and learned the truths of the blessed gospel, you accept and confirm as your own what was then done for you by others, and enter into the fellowship of the Christian Church, taking upon yourselves the vows and obligations of the Christian life.

Then the Service shall proceed as in the following, beginning with― Dearly beloved, you have been baptized, &c.

BAPTISM OF THOSE OF RIPER YEARS.

When those who, not having been baptized in infancy, desire to make a public confession of the Christian faith, and to enter into the fellowship of the Church, have come to the Altar, the Minister shall read the following Sentences, or a part of them :—

EXCEPT

'XCEPT a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Then cometh Jesus unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus said, Suffer it to be so now; for so it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he baptized him.

We are buried with Christ by baptism into death, that we may be dead to sin; and that, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Baptism doth now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. ·

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

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Then the Minister shall say to those who are to receive Baptism,

U are about to receive the baptism which our Lord commended by example and precept, as the outward sign of consecration to God and his service, and of a Christian confession. It is a solemn

declaration of your desire and purpose to live a Christian life, and to be received into the fellowship of the Christian Church. Let the outward form be quickened by the inward feeling; and may it be joined, in God's mercy, with the saving baptism of the Holy Spirit, cleansing the heart, even as water cleanses the body.

Then he shall apply pure Water, in the usual way, saying, — BAPTIZE thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Or,

I baptize thee in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us pray.

ALMIGHTY GOD, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, bless, we pray

thee, thy servant who now joins himself by baptism to the Church of Christ. Receive him with thy divine welcome. Give him thy Holy Spirit, and make him thine in Christ; and work in him, O God! both to will and to do of thy good pleasure. Amen.

Then the Minister shall address those who have been confirmed, and those who have been baptized, as follows:

EARLY BELOVED, you have been baptized in the name of

the Lord Jesus Christ, our blessed Saviour, and the Head of the Church. Do you now, before God and your fellow-Christians, declare that you will henceforth renounce all evil, and sincerely strive to do the will of God, as made known to you by the teachings of Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of God dwelling in you?

Then they shall answer, audibly,

I DO, with the help of God, promise so to do.

Then the Minister, taking each by the right Hand, shall say,—

ITH this right hand of fellowship, I welcome you to the Church

WT

of the living God, and of his Son Jesus Christ; to our love and

Christian sympathy, and to participation in all the conflicts, hopes, joys, and triumphs of the Christian life. Amen.

Let us pray.

UR Father in heaven, we beseech thee to strengthen these thy children in their holy purpose, and daily to increase in them thy manifold grace, even the spirit of knowledge and wisdom, of faith and charity, of hope and of patience. May they persevere, even to the end, in all good desires and deeds; may they daily know the joy of thy presence, and the peace which the world can neither give nor take away. May they run the race that is set before them; endure the trials, meet and overcome the temptations of life; and, in the time and way of thy loving appointment, go hence, in the full assurance of Christian faith and hope, through thy mercy and the grace that is given in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty Father, give us an earnest desire to receive these new brethren in Christ, not only to our outward fellowship, but to our true and fervent Christian love and sympathy. May we be strengthened and quickened by their love and their testimony. May we walk together in charity, and be helpers of each other's joy and victory over sin and all evil. Amen.

We give thee humble and hearty thanks, O Father! that thou hast called us to the knowledge of thyself, to the fellowship of thy grace, and to the hope of eternal life. Confirm us all in thy truth and thy Spirit, that we may daily advance in virtue and piety, till we all come in joy and gladness to that eternal kingdom which is promised in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord of all power and might, who art the Author and Giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of thy name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and of thy great mercy keep us in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then a Hymn may be sung, and the Service conclude with the Benediction. The Benediction may be omitted when the Communion is to follow immediately.

THE

HE love of God, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, for ever. Amen.

When those who are baptized are parents, bringing their children with them to be baptized also, instead of the usual form for the baptism of infants, after the address beginning, "You are about to receive," &c., the minister may add that of the service of infant baptism, beginning, "Believing that the Lord Jesus Christ," &c., and may baptize the child or children immediately after baptizing the parents; also, immedi ately after the prayer for the baptized, he may add that of the service of infant baptism.

Communion, or the Lord's Supper.

The following may be read as a part of the Prayers in the Service preceding the Administration of the Lord's Supper, when this takes place after Morning or Evening Worship:

GOD! who in the fulness of time didst send thy dear Son to be

our Saviour, grant that, as members of his fold, we may hear the voice of the good Shepherd, and be led forth and fed by him, until we enter his everlasting rest. Vouchsafe so to work in us by thy Spirit, that we may be conformed to his example, and in all things may walk as true disciples of him who gave himself for us. As we are baptized into his death, so may we be raised with him to newness of life, and day by day grow in the knowledge of him who is the way and the truth and the life. May we all, with tender and earnest faith, recall to mind his dying love, his prayer on the cross for his enemies, his words of peace to the dying transgressor, his devout commending of his spirit. to thee, and his giving up the ghost, that he might be the mighty helper and comforter of our souls in the hour of mortal conflict and suffering. May our hearts be drawn to him in perfect trust, believing that, as we too die, so we shall also with him be raised from the dead to everlasting life, to be for ever with him and with thee, to whom be all honor in the Church unceasingly rendered. Amen.

When the time for the Communion has come, the Service may proceed as follows. The Minister shall read these Sentences, or a suitable part of them:

OUR

UR Lord Jesus Christ said, My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who cometh down from