Trinitarian church but baptisms werent said in the trinitarian formula

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I was attending a church with my step siblings which is non Catholic but they do teach that there is three persons in one God. I ever heard the pastor say this. But, when they were performing their baptisms it was clear that they weren’t saying “I baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit.” Is this a valid baptism? Its a trinitarian church and the people being baptized believe in the trinity.
 
I was attending a church with my step siblings which is non Catholic but they do teach that there is three persons in one God. I ever heard the pastor say this. But, when they were performing their baptisms it was clear that they weren’t saying “I baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit.” Is this a valid baptism? Its a trinitarian church and the people being baptized believe in the trinity.
 
No, the fact that they believe in the Doctrine of the Trinity doesn’t mean that they can baptize in a non-Trinitarian formula.

I think the confusion is really this.

Some groups *do *baptize In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. But it’s clear that what they mean by those words is significantly different from what those words actually signify. Therefore, their intention is not the same as the Church in baptizing, and the baptism is therefore invalid. Groups that would fit this model would be Latter Day Saints/Mormons or, as far as I can recall, the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

But if a group doesn’t even use the Trinitarian formula, then all of this is a moot point.
 
Lenten_ashes said:
So what were they saying when baptizing them?
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Yes, I would agree that the words are important. Could you hear what was said? Was it written down anywhere? Also, what brand church was it? Methodist? Pentecostal? Non-denominational? That could help give us a clue.
 
Do you remember exactly what they said to baptize? Maybe you misheard. It happens. 🙂
 
I don’t know exactly what was said but in the short time the pastor spoke to them at baptism he was signaling them to plug their nose. They were dunked once and I would have been able to read their lips if had said the trinitarian formula. My guess would be its valid because both the pastor and the baptized believe in the trinity.
 
FormerXCatholic said:
I don’t know exactly what was said but in the short time the pastor spoke to them at baptism he was signaling them to plug their nose. They were dunked once and I would have been able to read their lips if had said the trinitarian formula. My guess would be its valid because both the pastor and the baptized believe in the trinity.
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If you don’t know exactly what was said, you cannot be sure if the Trinitarian formula was properly used. It might be best to ask the pastor what he said than to guess. 🙂
 
but technically if they didnt say it it wouldnt be valid, correct?
 
FormerXCatholic said:
I was attending a church with my step siblings which is non Catholic but they do teach that there is three persons in one God. I ever heard the pastor say this. But, when they were performing their baptisms it was clear that they weren’t saying “I baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit.” Is this a valid baptism? Its a trinitarian church and the people being baptized believe in the trinity.
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I saw this happen in an Evangelical Church once. I know they believe in the Trinity, but they definitely didn’t say “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Sad, actually. I hope it is not something that happens frequently - I am guessing not.
 
FormerXCatholic said:
My guess is baptism of desire would take place here
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Yes, that is the hope for sure. Although if they were to seek to come into full communion with the Catholic Church at some point, they would need to be validly baptized first (or conditionally baptized if they were not sure what words were said at their baptism in the non-Catholic community).
 
Sounds like (to me at least) that they may be on of those groups that Baptize only in Jesus’s name.
 
In addition to this, some on the “approved” list allow (or haven’t stopped) their ministers from saying other things like, “In the name of the Creator, Sustainer and Sanctifier” or whatever madeup thing they come up with.

My personal preference (in the oddworld where I am Pope), would be to conditionally baptize anyone that enters from a non-Catholic baptizing body, except Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Assyrian Church of the East. We know these baptize correctly, we don’t know about any others.
 
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