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Question about Baptism

Discussion in 'Religion and Spirituality' started by MonstBlitz, Jun 18, 2012.

  1. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    Hi everyone, sorry for the repost, but this thread wasn't getting too much play in the Questions and answer thread so I figured I would try it here. Mods, feel free to delete the question from that forum if it's overkill. Anyway here's the question I posed there -

    I'm hoping some of this boards members of differing faiths can help me out with a difficult question. I'm a newly minted father and hope to get my son baptized. My mother is a devout Catholic and I myself am a confirmed but not practicing Catholic. To please my mother, I decided a Catholic Baptism would be fine even though I often find my adult self very much at odds with Catholic teachings, practices, etc. Anyway to make a long story short, after my mom jumped through numerous hoops to get us scheduled at the church in the town where I was born and raised, we have hit a serious snag when they asked if the Godparents are practicing Catholics. Neither is. Apparently one of them must be.

    I'm not telling either of the Godparents they are out. We chose them because they are the best people for the "job". So my question now becomes what's the best alternative to a Catholic Baptism? I don't need anything fancy. Just a simple blessing from a priest / reverend / other man of the cloth that won't give us any grief over our choices of Godparents, etc. A church setting would be nice, but when it comes right down to it, I don't care if they dip him in a river as long as it's safe.

    Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
     
  2. DrAstroZoom

    DrAstroZoom Canary in a Coal Mine Luxury Box

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    I'm a fairly newly minted Methodist, and they do infant baptisms. I don't know that there's any denominational requirement for Godparents, but it would be worth checking out.
     
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  3. Ohiophinphan

    Ohiophinphan Chaplain Staff Member Luxury Box

    As you may know, in "real life" I am a Lutheran Pastor. That is why the dolphin in my avatar has a clerical collar on! It is rare that Protestant denominations require the Baptismal sponsers (our phrase) to be of the same denominational family. Let me offer a couple of ideas. First, have you considered adding a third sponser who is Roman Catholic to the two you had already chosen? If the parish allows that and you have an appropriate, available candidate that might be the fastest answer.

    Second, if you were to call my parish (and we get these kind of calls semi-regularly) my answer would be, "Do you intend to actually live out the promises you will make as a parent on behalf of your child?" That is will you be bringing the child to worship and Christian educational oppurtunities? Will you pray with your child? Will you teach your child to read scripture and help them answer their questions as they grow up? Will you be a part of a worshipping community where help doing all these things will be offered? If you were to answer yes to these questions, then I would schedule a time to sit with you, your wife, and the sponsers and go over the service. Then we get it on the calender.

    A Lutheran or Episcopal service is virtually identical to a Roman Catholic service and might reduce the culture shock for your Mom.

    I am sure some folks on this forum will want to talk about the efficacy and validity of infant versus believer's Baptism. However, since you have already decided on the infant Baptism course, (which is the direction I espouse and support) I hope we could keep this to simply answering the question asked.

    BTW, you are in the midst of very solid Episcopal/Lutheran country where you are so you should have no problem finding someone nearby.
     
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  4. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    Thank you so much for the answer! That's a good idea about the 3rd party sponsor. I know my mom is dead set against lying about one of them being Catholic, and I agree. Not the way I want to start my child's religious experience off. But I'm also not going to have a fake stand in, knowing that it would be a sleight to both the stand in and the real godparents and also be lying in a roundabout way. But a third sponsor sounds like a good compromise.

    So I guess if the Catholics don't go for that, it will be time to look for a Lutheran church! BTW, those are all good and fair questions you would ask. I know it's important that I don't just do this to make my mom happy and also understand the responsibilities involved.

    Thanks again!
     
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  5. Ohiophinphan

    Ohiophinphan Chaplain Staff Member Luxury Box

    If you do end up going Lutheran, my daughter is a pastor in Richmond. Probably a bit far away but I always like to promote my kid! ;-)
     
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