What if you've been baptised but can't produce a certificate?

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William_Pitts

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I was baptised in a baptist church when I was 10 years old. That was 52 years ago. I’m in RCIA now. How will the inability to show a baptisimal certificate affect my entry into the Church? I was an ordained Baptist minister for many years.

William
 
Have you talked with your RCIA director about this?

Protestant communities don’t often have baptismal certificates. We’ve accepted things like letters from the pastor and letters from witnesses. One person had the church copy the register that showed which children were baptized and another had a parish newsletter with the same information. I would think that if you were 10 years old you would remember the event and could be the witness.
 
I know the church didn’t give baptismal certificates. The church was a small church and I haven’t had any contact for the last 50 years. What did you mean “I could be the witness.”?

William
 
Talk to your pastor.

There is always a way - if nothing can be found, no witnesses located, your Pastor will do a conditional baptism. Every single RCIA class has someone in your situation, just talk to them!
 
The worst case scenario is that you receive what is termed as a conditional baptism. That is basically “if you have not been baptized before, you are now baptized…” this is however a worst case thing. They is the possibility of many other ways of getting proof of your baptism. Letters from former pastors or some similar authority, maybe even your ordination certificate or proof of ordination may be acceptable. This is something that you have to discuss with the RCIA leaders or the pastor.
 
William_Pitts said:
I was baptised in a baptist church when I was 10 years old. That was 52 years ago. I’m in RCIA now. How will the inability to show a baptisimal certificate affect my entry into the Church? I was an ordained Baptist minister for many years.

William
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Do any of your family remember, is it recorded in a family Bible, or in some other way?

If all else fails, you would be Conditionally Baptized ASAP and then treated as a Candidate instead of a Catechumen.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
Do any of your family remember, is it recorded in a family Bible, or in some other way?

If all else fails, you would be Conditionally Baptized ASAP and then treated as a Candidate instead of a Catechumen.
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The Rite book states that this ceremony be done “privately”, and not as part of the Easter Vigil. Brother, perhaps you can clarify this for me… Does this person have to go to Confession before the Vigil and receiving Communion? I am trying to understand the mind of the Church with this Conditional Baptism - and I presume that the Church believes that the “first” baptism was valid and so Confession would be in order for sins up to that more distant point - rather than a “pass” for the earlier sins, the penitent only worrying about sins from the conditional baptism to the Vigil.

I have counciled they go to Confession and confess all sins from when they believed they may have been baptised to the present, not from the Conditional Baptism. Would you say I have the correct understanding on this?

Thanks,

fdesales
 
fdesales said:
The Rite book states that this ceremony be done “privately”, and not as part of the Easter Vigil. Brother, perhaps you can clarify this for me… Does this person have to go to Confession before the Vigil and receiving Communion? I am trying to understand the mind of the Church with this Conditional Baptism - and I presume that the Church believes that the “first” baptism was valid and so Confession would be in order for sins up to that more distant point - rather than a “pass” for the earlier sins, the penitent only worrying about sins from the conditional baptism to the Vigil.

I have counciled they go to Confession and confess all sins from when they believed they may have been baptised to the present, not from the Conditional Baptism. Would you say I have the correct understanding on this?

Thanks,

fdesales
Click to expand...
In the many years I’ve been involved in RCIA this has always been a point of discussion, it is a “catch-22”. If they were Baptized they need to go to Confession, if they were not then they do not need to. It is best to suggest that they do go to Confession (as with all Candidates they are given the opportunity to go to Confession, but no one watches that they do) and consider all sins of their past life (since when they believe that they may have been Baptized) You are correct in the way you approach this.
 
William_Pitts said:
I know the church didn’t give baptismal certificates. The church was a small church and I haven’t had any contact for the last 50 years. What did you mean “I could be the witness.”?

William
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I lieu of a baptismal certificate, one form of documentation that can be presented is an affidavit of baptism. Whomever witnessed the baptism can attest to the facts. You, being age 10, were sufficiently old enough to remember the details. Therefore you could fill out the affidavit. Many RCIA directors have a form already made up and can give it to you and you just fill it out. Of course, if others are still available (a sibling, parent, etc) who witnessed the baptism they could also fill out the affidavit. If the RCIA director doesn’t have an affidavit form, simply write the details in a letter format and sign it.

Conditional baptism is only used when there is no way to ascertain baptism-- the person has no recollection because they were too young, no witnesses can be found, or the Trinitarian formula is in question (Mormons, etc). Baptists have valid Trinitarian form, and if you can remember being baptized then you should not need conditional baptism.
 
Congrats on making the journey to Catholicism (I’m on the journey too). If you were ordained in the Baptist church, then Baptism is required for membership into the Baptist church and I would think that one must be a member to be a minister, etc. etc. Hopefully you’ll find someone who can prove it either thru a letter or having witnessed it. Good luck!
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
In the many years I’ve been involved in RCIA this has always been a point of discussion, it is a “catch-22”. If they were Baptized they need to go to Confession, if they were not then they do not need to. It is best to suggest that they do go to Confession (as with all Candidates they are given the opportunity to go to Confession, but no one watches that they do) and consider all sins of their past life (since when they believe that they may have been Baptized) You are correct in the way you approach this.
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Thanks for responding.

Regards
 
fdesales said:
The Rite book states that this ceremony be done “privately”, and not as part of the Easter Vigil. Brother, perhaps you can clarify this for me… Does this person have to go to Confession before the Vigil and receiving Communion? I am trying to understand the mind of the Church with this Conditional Baptism - and I presume that the Church believes that the “first” baptism was valid and so Confession would be in order for sins up to that more distant point - rather than a “pass” for the earlier sins, the penitent only worrying about sins from the conditional baptism to the Vigil.

I have counciled they go to Confession and confess all sins from when they believed they may have been baptised to the present, not from the Conditional Baptism. Would you say I have the correct understanding on this?

Thanks,

fdesales
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That’s exactly what I’ve done, too, in these situations, when I was involved with RCIA, and no one ever reported having any issues with it.
 
Did you actually call the church and ask them for you baptismal certificate? I was baptised in the Baptist church when I was a child, and when I was in RCIA some 20+ years later, clear across the country, I thought the same thing, that it would be impossible for me to receive a baptismal certificate. I didn’t think it was recorded. I called the church, and it turned out they did have a copy of my certificate and mailed it to me immediately when I asked.

Before you do anything, I would avise you to at least call the church and ask.
 
I didn’t have a baptism certificate either, and the priest told me to get two witnesses to sign… talk to your priest, there are other ways 🙂

Baptists generally baptize in the name of the Trinity, is that correct? if so, shoudln’t be a problem…

God bless
 
Along these lines, I was baptized in a Baptist church and have proof to that effect, but I was 10 and I can’t recall the exact words used. I have no idea whether the pastor used the words “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” But I’m certain at least the intent would have been there; the Trinity is absolutely a part of their doctrine. Is this an issue? I keep thinking about it and getting nervous.
 
milkbar said:
Along these lines, I was baptized in a Baptist church and have proof to that effect, but I was 10 and I can’t recall the exact words used. I have no idea whether the pastor used the words “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” But I’m certain at least the intent would have been there; the Trinity is absolutely a part of their doctrine. Is this an issue? I keep thinking about it and getting nervous.
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Your RCIA director and/or pastor would be the ones to talk with. If they have any concerns about the form of your baptism they’ll arrange for a conditional baptism. Even if people here are absolutely certain one way or the other, it’s the people working with you locally who will see that everything is in place.
 
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