Baptism...

(Elitsirk) wrote in message . com...
(Leslie) wrote in message ...
Elit said:

I guess I need to call the
church and find out what all we have to do and when, since I don't
even know if htere's a minimum age requirement for the baby or
anything.

I'm Catholic, and while I think most people still baptize pretty early (like
around two weeks was always the traditional age) you can wait if you wish. We
have done it anywhere between 5 and 9 months. I like doing it later when the
baby is less likely to be upset by the water. It makes for some cute pictures
when the baby can be more invloved and actually WANTS to play in the font!

Your church will probably require that you take a class and the godparents may
have to as well--it's just a one day thing. Also, you don't mention whether
your husband is practicing or not; if he's not, some churches/preists may
refuse to accommodate you, since they won't do the baptism unless they think it
is more than a formality. (Idon't agree with this, btw).

Actually, DH and I are both practicing Catholics. I joined the church
about 4 years ago. Although I took 6 months of RCIA classes, I still
lack the sort of common knowledge that people who have grown up in the
church have. DH is sometimes no help on these things--he's probably
seen dozens of baptisms, but that doesn't mean he knows what you
*have* to do vs what "most people" do. We don't have any close
friends or family members that go to our church close by, so there was
no one to ask. It doesn't help that we usually go to a church that's
attached to the university we graduated from, and not a regular
parish--there are plenty of non-students around (including families
with small babies), but probably not as many as other places.

We finally remembered to ask after mass on Sunday, and were told that
we have to make all the arrangments with the priest or deacon
directly. I guess they don't just have a packet to hand out like they
do for weddings We started down that path, so hopefully we'll get
some straight answers from the priest soon (he's a great guy, just a
little scatter-brained on scheduling issues, as we found out when
planning our wedding a couple of years ago)...

I wish you well with the Baptism.
I come from a nonconformist Baptist/Free Church backgroud and
have thought for a long time that we have thrown the baby out
with the bathwater as far as Baptisms are concerned.

We have 'Dedications' were the whole church say they will help
the parents and baby, but don't have 'God Parents'. Over the
years I have often seen families stop attending church or move
away and without the formal relationship the ties are lost.

This I believe is very unfortunate as I feel that God Parents
can be very helpful for the long term spiritual and social
well being of children and young people.

I have been telling friends for some years that I would set
up a web site to help promote 'God Parents for all' and now
seem a good time:-)

I hope to have sections on Baptisms for many different
dedominational view points and even for other religions and
athiests.

If anyone is willing to write a page or two of information
from their particular dedominational/religious perspective
I would be greatly appreciative.

Also if anyone knows of any existing websites promoting
God Parents could they let me know either by email
or in this newsgroup thread.

TIA