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!
Grats on the new kid. I have no advice. However, where ever you go, get the little one baptized wearing Dolphin gear....cause that would be awesome. Its what I would do if I was religious.......and there wasn't a UN resolution banning me from procreating.
He's already got plenty of Dolphin gear, and if I can pull off getting him baptized in it, pics to follow in this thread!
I'm a bit surprised Ohiop has not chimed in MB. Keep in mind infant baptism is a somewhat controversial theological issue. If there is a local charismatic Catholic congregation in your area you may have better results.
Hey Padre, What exactly do you mean by charismatic Catholic congregation? Just a different church? Thanks!
I don't usually follow this forum but once it was cross-posted into the Religion forum, I was all over it. As to the Charismatic congregation, I know they exist in the DC area or at least did when I interned there 30 years ago. Unfortunately those are likely diocesian rules and not the rules of the local parish.
I might be way off base here but I was always under the impression that parents have their children christened and sort of like the parents vow to raise the child as a christian. It is later in life when the child is old enough to choose whether or not he wants to be baptized.
Close........... in some traditions. To be "Christened" literally means to be given a name, a first or "Christian" name. It was synonomous with Baptism. It is an arcane use but I still sometimes hear it requested. What you are describing is "dedicating" a child. That is done in Baptist traditions (or traditions similar) and is known as believer's Baptism. It is a minority position in America but fairly common. Elsewhere in the world it is quite uncommon. Within Christian traditions which Baptize infants, the idea is that God chooses us, we don't choose God. It would be analagous to the rite of circumsizion in Judaism which happens on the eighth day. Most of us who Baptize babies also have a practice of confirmation, which is a time around the age of 12-15 when a young person "affirms" or "confirms" the promises made for them in Baptism.
Dolphins....water....works for me! I did get a bit of a clench when I baptized a child in an OSU onesy......yheeeeeeeew!
This wasn't even planned, just happened to be in the diaper bag the day of the Baptism. Look closely...
Congratulations! Great binkee! From the looks of the church building in the background it appears you were able to have the service done within the Roman Catholic tradition. Am I right? I would love to know how you did it? If you don't want to share everything on this board, could you PM me?
As a man of the cloth, doesn't that pacifier mean your God is going to give special favor to that child?
I could answer seriously and talk abut the divine love God shows in accepting us in Baptism, but what I think you want to hear is "of course it does!" ;-)
I knew it. Now the real question, when baptizing a Jets fan, do you have to pray harder so it will stick?
Yup, we went the Catholic route. I knew it would mean a lot to my mom. It wasn't easy though. What we ended up agreeing on was instead of having to change a Godparent, the church allowed us to name my mom as the child's "spiritual guide" and we got to keep both the Godparents we chose. Worked out great considering my mom will be a spiritual influence in his life. Thanks for all the advice in this thread, and the one in the religion forum! And when the deacon blessed Louie, the pacifier was in his mouth meaning of course, the Dolphins were blessed and should have a phenomenal season!
As someone in a similar situation, I say dont let other members of your family dictate what happens with your child. My parents, and almost all of my relatives on "my side" of my family are dedicated Catholics. I am non-religious, realized this early in life, and was allowed to "get confirmed or not go back" when I turned 13. I gladly quit, and though there was some drama, I was a good kid who gave my parents no trouble otherwise, and they got over it. In my mid 20s, I met my wife, who is a dedicated Southern Baptist. We make it work because we have a very similar set of values. Mine simply come solely from what my heart and head tell me what is right. I occasionally "sit through" church with her to make her happy, but usually she goes by herself. We have a daughter who just turned one, and it was decided before she was even concieved that she would be raised in the Baptist church. My wife would have it no other way. We discussed this with my parents, and they essentially shrugged it off. However, when she was born, my mom suddenly was concerned that my daughter wasnt going to be baptised. There was some drama, but we told her it just wasnt going to happen, and she got over it. The only remaining contention is if/when my daughter will be old enough to make her own decesions regarding religion. My wife, a very intelligent, open minded woman on most issues, simply assumes that she'll gladly remain a Baptist forever, like 99% of our family on that side. I tend to think that the possibility exists that she'll at least have thoughts otherewise, especially when she realizes that Daddy doesnt go to church or believe all of the same things that Mommy does.
I wish you and your family well. The conflict between infant baptism and believer's baptism has strained lots of families. Best wishes to you and yours.
Your child can have more than 2 godparents. Just choose a 2nd pair that are Catholic. My son has 2 Godfathers and Godmothers, (all of them reside in a different country and he was baptized there.) Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
