I’ll examine the issue from two different angles: first covenant, then kingdom. As will become clear, I think closed-membership baptists have been right to discern an ecclesial shape to baptism. In these chapters, then, I’m simply trying to tend seeds they’ve planted in order to more thickly describe the ecclesial shape of baptism.16 This ecclesial shape of baptism is decisive for establishing that baptism is required for church membership. A second, closely related issue is the theological relationship