Performing Our Own Christening/ Baptism for Our Son?

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Dhugz said:
I see, that is great. So is there any difference of the collected fees for immersion and sprinkling?
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There is no fee for Baptism. If the parents wish to give the priest a gift, that’s their choice, but we don’t ask for money.
 
Phemie said:
There is no fee for Baptism. If the parents wish to give the priest a gift, that’s their choice, but we don’t ask for money.
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Its great to hear that. I am hoping that our priest can do that also, and make the it a voluntary offer.
 
Dhugz said:
Its great to hear that. I am hoping that our priest can do that also, and make the it a voluntary offer.
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It’s customary to offer a donation or stipend for a Baptism or other Sacrament, but no parish should be mandating it. No one should be denied a Sacrament because of an inability to pay. I hope your parish isn’t doing that!
 
1ke said:
This is not entirely accurate.

There are many protestant denominations that do not keep records of baptisms. In such cases an affidavit of baptism from the parents or witnesses suffices for an infant. A person baptized at an age where they personally can vouch for it can fill out their own affidavit.

The parents should record the date and witnesses present and insure that they pour water over the head of the child while saying “Name, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.

Video taping it would be ideal. This would provide all the necessary proof.

If and when the parents come in to full communion with the Church, the priest can supply the remaining rites associated with baptism-- anointing with chrism, presentation of the baptismal candle and garment, etc.
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Not necessarily. Our second child was Baptized in the very same Chapel as our son 2 years earlier, we had the whole family , God parents and other families as witnesses , we had photos …perhaps even video! BUT when it came time for 1st communion and after a few military moves I could not find her certificate ( in retrospect probably never got it) and the Military Arch Diocese had no record of it, no proof we offered was accepted the priest simply wanted to conditionally Baptize her but I don’t remember him using the words “I conditionally …” I think that he simply did not believe us and since the picture was of a baby he did not believe it was our baby perhaps?? I don’t know.
My advice is either
  1. Find a pastor of any Church ( I think some Lutherans and Episcopalians do) who will Baptize your baby and give you a certificate. It is very important that it is not a Christening or ‘Baby Dedication’ which are totally different to Baptism.
or
  1. Be patient , continue on your faith journey and when you enter the fullness of the faith you can all receive sacraments together. IF the child is in a near death situation you can then Baptize in an emergency or grab a priest in the hospital.
I think it is important to remember that the whole reason that a Catholic priest will not Baptize a child when the parents are outside of the Catholic Church is because it is the parents who are taking on the responsibility ( as we do for so much of our children’s up bringing) of their faith formation IN the Church with all it’s teachings. In the early Church there was only ONE Church so when you read that whole families were baptized in the Bible that was of course into the Apostolic Catholic Church. I only recently understood this when I sponsored a mother of 3 through the RCIA program. Her Catholic husband was deployed in Iraq and they made them wait until he had returned to Baptize the youngest child. I thought it was crazy not to Baptize as soon as possible but I now understand… they could not guarantee that the mother would complete RCIA and that the father was actually part of the children’s lives on many levels. I think however a military chaplain would have gone ahead and done the baptizim but this is not a military parish.
 
anp1215 said:
It’s customary to offer a donation or stipend for a Baptism or other Sacrament, but no parish should be mandating it. No one should be denied a Sacrament because of an inability to pay. I hope your parish isn’t doing that!
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I hope so and still hoping.👍
 
Dhugz said:
In the Roman Rite, its just sprinkling of the holy water in the forehead and a holy oil.
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No, not really. The Latin Rite does not exclude immersion and can certainly perform it that way if the priest and parents choose to do it.
 
Phemie said:
Not necessarily. We baptize by immersion too. In fact, when I read the Rite of Baptism for Infants, it presumes an immersion Baptism. We offer both in our parish and leave it up to the parents to decide which way they want the Baptism to be celebrated. About 30% opt for immersion.
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Your parish is more Eastern than ours. I admire your parish 👍
 
ConstantineTG said:
Your parish is more Eastern than ours. I admire your parish 👍
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When we decided to offer this it was accompanied by a request that, wether or not they opted for immersion, the parents not dress their children in baptismal garments to come to the church so that the Presentation & Clothing with the White Garment could really be the symbol it’s meant to be. After they are presented with the white garment the children are taken to the side where they are dressed in their new garment (in recent cases of pre-schoolers being baptized, they were simply dressed in an alb as the priest spoke the words) while the congregation sings a baptismal song/hymn. Then they are brought back for the Presentation of the Lighted Candle & the Ephpheta Rite.

At first there was resistance but during the preparation classes we asked how many of them had put their wedding bands on before they went to the church to get married. Of course none of them had, so we asked, 'Why not?" “Well, because the rings are part of the ceremony when you get married.” “So is the white garment when you get baptized. It represents a sacrament that has been received, just like your rings represented a vow you had just made, so can you understand why we are asking you to wait?” In the over 10 years since we started this we’ve only had one family categorically refuse.

The funniest thing is when grandparents complain that they hate these ‘new’ ways of doing things. Can you say ‘perfect moment for catechesis’?
 
Dhugz said:
I think it is in the Priest… The OP should ask the priest first, as long as they will pay the stipend.🤷
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Dhugz said:
I see, that is great. So is there any difference of the collected fees for immersion and sprinkling?
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The talk of a stipend is distracting from the topic.

FWIW, mandating a payment of any kind in exchange for receipt of a sacrament is Simony, a grave sin.
 
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