Churches are using the Internet to communicate with leaders and members, to create community, to conduct worship experiences, to evangelize and disciple and … to baptize.

This YouTube video features the first online baptism for Flamingo Road Church (recently renamed Potential Church) in Fort Lauderdale, Fl.

Pastor Troy Gramling and Internet Campus Pastor Brian Vasil baptized Alyssa Eason online. She lives in Fayettteville, GA and attends the church’s Internet Campus.

Here’s another video of Pastor Rusty Hutson of Cornerstone UMC, Auburn, AL officiating in the online baptism of Cindy Wall.

Hutson was attending a conference in Granger, IN and used Skype to interact with Cindy who was in Auburn.

Internet campuses and online churches have their detractors and supports.

Some believe “There Is No Virtual Church.” Others are standing “In Defense of Virtual Church.”

Ready or not, technology is changing the world around us. Churches will have to decide what tools to incorporate into ministry.

So where does online baptism fall in these considerations? Defining the practice is a good place to begin the discussion.

The ordinance of baptism has been defined as “a ceremony instituted by the Lord for public observation and regular participation in the local assembly.”

Here’s another variation. Baptism is “an ordinance of the Lord by which those who have repented and come to faith express their union with Christ in His death and resurrection, by being immersed in water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4

Baptism is a symbolic act that allows the believer to share in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. By being baptized the believer is essentially saying to the world that he identifies with what Jesus went through for him.

So we see the ceremony, the process, the spiritual meaning, and the witnesses.

In my own experience, I don’t recall ever seeing the location mentioned as an essential aspect of baptism. Many of us have probably seen or taken part in baptisms at the ocean, in a lake or swimming pool. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River (picture of the traditional location of Christ’s baptism above).

So location aside, online baptism leaves us with the opening question. Does the “virtual” vs. “physical” nature of online baptism invalidate the experience for the believer, the participants and the Church?

One thing is certain: The Church will face questions like this with increasing regularity in a globally connected world.

Footnote: Cindy Wall passed away a few days after her online baptism. A friend of hers wrote a tribute to Cindy.

Question: If participants embrace the broadly held biblical positions on the Church ordinance, is online baptism a legitimate practice? Why or why not?