Chrismation Certificate?

[Lirenel]

My priest sent me an email asking me to fill out a "Record of Chrismation" form. Did anyone else here have to do this (and pay a 10$ processing fee) in order to get chrismated? My priest said it was in order to get a certificate from the diocese (Antiochian, in my case), but is there a purpose for the certificate? I know it's probably nothing, but it sort of makes it sound like I have to pay in order to join the church.

 

[Knee V]

I don't remember if I had to fill something out, but I did get a certificate when I entered the Church. My whole diocese uses the same certificate. One reason is that it's nice to have your own record (not that you "need" one for yourself, per se). Another reason is that, depending on the bishop and other circumstances, you may need to something to prove "good standing" for certain things, such as getting married. A bishop may want to see your certificate for you to be married in his diocese to make sure that the wedding is truly Orthodox.

 

[-Kyriaki-]

It's not paying to join the Church, it's the fee for the certificate. Certificates are needed for weddings, ordinations and some other things, and also very helpful if you're going overseas and need proof that you're Orthodox.

The $10 covers the administration fee and also helps the diocese/archdiocese in its running costs.

 

[MariaRegina]

My priest sent me an email asking me to fill out a "Record of Chrismation" form. Did anyone else here have to do this (and pay a 10$ processing fee) in order to get chrismated? My priest said it was in order to get a certificate from the diocese (Antiochian, in my case), but is there a purpose for the certificate? I know it's probably nothing, but it sort of makes it sound like I have to pay in order to join the church.

The priest wants to make sure that the spelling of your name is correct and that the sponsor's names are also correct.

Yes, it is an administrative fee. Such fees are also requested when requesting a baptismal certificate, confirmation, or marriage certificate from the Catholic Church.

 

[-Kyriaki-]

It'd be true of requesting a certificate from any traditional Church (or organisation for that matter). Processing fees apply to marriage licenses etc. too.

 

[Khaleas]

I had no fee and so but I know some jurisdictions keep a central record so the fee makes sense.

 

[Gregorios]

My priest sent me an email asking me to fill out a "Record of Chrismation" form. Did anyone else here have to do this (and pay a 10$ processing fee) in order to get chrismated? My priest said it was in order to get a certificate from the diocese (Antiochian, in my case), but is there a purpose for the certificate? I know it's probably nothing, but it sort of makes it sound like I have to pay in order to join the church.

I can assure you, even if you didn't pay the fee you would still be brought into the Church, no problem. It's for record purposes, believe it or not these things are legal documents that you can use to prove your identity in addition to your standing with the Church.

 

[27B6]

The fee is normal. I paid $10 for my certificate a few years back when I was chrismated. You receive it in the mail a few weeks after being brought into the Church. In the Antiochian Archdiocese, you will also receive monthly issues of "Word" magazine. As others have mentioned, there are nominal fees for other certificates like marriage. This is reasonable since otherwise the parish would have to cover the cost, and really the amount is minimal. If there is a true financial hardship involved then probably the sponsor or parish would step in and cover it.

As for whether the certificate has a purpose, I think probably not since the Archdiocese already keeps the records. It's not like a diploma that you would show a potential employer, for example. However, if something were to happen to those records, you having the certificate could be useful as a backup in making corrections. I don't know.

For personal psychological purposes, it's nice to have a tangible certificate. If you wanted to you could frame it and add it to a "glory wall" with diplomas and such...LOL.

 

[Mary of Bethany]

I take care of collecting the information and filling out certificates for our parish, and there is no fee involved. But I guess it varies with the jurisdiction/diocese.

Mary

 

[gzt]

The diocese keeps official records of these things and has for centuries. The certificate is your own copy of the record and the cost likely covers the cost of filing the records - you're not buying the certificate, you're buying the cost of record-keeping and you're getting some free paperwork back, essentially. If you're extremely allergic to the idea of having to pay $10, talk to your priest about it, but it's a very reasonable fee. I presume you regularly give money to the church, take $10 out of your usual gift if you really don't like paying an administrative fee.

 

[Joshua G.]

What would you do if you never got one (didn't know to ask), since changed churches, can't find the original priest who chrismated you? My current priest married us and took my word that I was Orthodox because he knew me well by then. But, I would like to have one just... to have one.

 

[Damaris]

What would you do if you never got one (didn't know to ask), since changed churches, can't find the original priest who chrismated you? My current priest married us and took my word that I was Orthodox because he knew me well by then. But, I would like to have one just... to have one.

Well, your chrismation would have to have been registered with the diocese, so you could, presumably, contact their offices. Or, call your old parish and ask if they can find your records.

 

[cobweb]

I never got one and neither did my husband. The kids didn't get one for their baptisms either.

 

[Joshua G.]

Well, your chrismation would have to have been registered with the diocese, so you could, presumably, contact their offices. Or, call your old parish and ask if they can find your records.

Good thought. I will contact the OCA about this and start from there. Otherwise, I suppose I could find my old priest. I actually know where he is. He just never gets back to me... ever. You would think we had a falling out but we didn't. I don't know... it's wierd. lol

 

[ProScribe]

I have one. (Antiochian Archdiocese)

 

[gzt]

I never actually got one, myself, but if I needed one, I would contact either the parish or the diocese for a copy of their record. In my case, the offices for the diocese are at my parish, so it's the same thing, really, but for those who aren't so fortunate, I'm not sure which should be contacted first. It's terribly important, to get it right, though, the worst case scenario is two phone calls instead of one...

 

[Mary of Bethany]

Each parish keeps a Metrical Book, which is the official record of all Baptisms/Chrismations, Marriages, and Funerals.

When I took over our parish records, I found that a lot of people had never been given certificates, so I've been playing "catch up" with those who are still within the parish.

Our priest said he was never instructed in what he was supposed to do for records, and there are probably a lot of other priests who fall in that category, too.

Mary

 

[cobweb]

Each parish keeps a Metrical Book, which is the official record of all Baptisms/Chrismations, Marriages, and Funerals.

When I took over our parish records, I found that a lot of people had never been given certificates, so I've been playing "catch up" with those who are still within the parish.

Our priest said he was never instructed in what he was supposed to do for records, and there are probably a lot of other priests who fall in that category, too.

Mary

I wasn't even put into the Metrical book until the rest of my family converted (5 months later). Somehow it was overlooked.

 

[Joshua G.]

Metrical book. I didn't think about this. Which would mean the current priest at my first parish (whoever that is) should be able to look it up.

Great guys. This helped me a lot.

Lirenel: sorry for hi-jacking your thread (Moral of the story, be glad your priest is being proactive about this. It will be good to have one day when you want to get married or if you ever go to sem or anything like that.... It is also good if you are part of the OCA because people abroad don't really know what that is unless they are up on the politics so it helps for them to see something in writing, at least. I ran into this problem in Romania. They thought it was some crazy schismatic group. Then I explained that an abbot they all revere very much throughout Romanian of a US monastery is under the OCA and they were cool with me )

 

[Khaleas]

Well, your chrismation would have to have been registered with the diocese, so you could, presumably, contact their offices. Or, call your old parish and ask if they can find your records.

I don't know if it was your MP parish Joshua, but I think mine only keeps records locally (aka at the church and digital copies at Father's home). Not all jurisdictions have the same practice so I guess you'd have to ask the particular diocese. If it's only kept locally then ask the current priest at the church, ours at least has all records since the church was founded.
I got a certificate that was created by our priest but that has worked everywhere.