My first baptism!!! (any pastorly advice?)

[Father Rick]

Macrina...

While I know it's been a month or so already... Congratulations!

I fully understand the 'overwhelmedness' of standing as an agent of the grace of God to someone so small and innocent.

May God continue to bless you in your growth and ministry in Him.

 

[Macrina]

Macrina...

While I know it's been a month or so already... Congratulations!

I fully understand the 'overwhelmedness' of standing as an agent of the grace of God to someone so small and innocent.

May God continue to bless you in your growth and ministry in Him.

Thank you, Father Rick. It is certainly amazing to realize that God uses such fragile vessels to accomplish His great purposes. It's an enormous privilege to get to serve in this way.

Have you been a priest for awhile now? Any advice for the newbie? (although I'm presbyterian, there are some things common to us all)

 

[Father Rick]

Well, I've been involved in ministry of one form or another for 15 years or so. Been a priest for a while...

Any questions you have, I'll be glad to give whatever insights I have... It's always good to have someone to ask the 'stupid' questions (like how do I hold onto the baby and pour the water at the same time? lol )

 

[Macrina]

Well, I've been involved in ministry of one form or another for 15 years or so. Been a priest for a while...

Any questions you have, I'll be glad to give whatever insights I have... It's always good to have someone to ask the 'stupid' questions (like how do I hold onto the baby and pour the water at the same time? lol )

Thanks. Too bad you weren't around a month ago, lol... although I did manage both the baby and the water, but not without a little anxiety and manuevering. It was a beautiful service, though, and I didn't drop anyone.

 

[Father Rick]

One helpful hint... if you have godparents present, have them hold the child for you so that your hands are free (and it makes them feel special).

 

[babbred]

It just concerns me, because I live in Britain, and lots of people here believe they're going to heaven because they were baptized as a baby. My husband is British, and he says having your baby baptized is a cultural thing here, a holdover from the days when everyone attended the C of E. Today, he said, lots of unsaved couples (including his sister and BIL) get their babies baptized because it's what they're "supposed to do," not because they have any intention of raising the kids in a Christian home or ever setting foot in a church again. That kind of thinking deeply, deeply disturbs me.

 

[Macrina]

It just concerns me, because I live in Britain, and lots of people here believe they're going to heaven because they were baptized as a baby. My husband is British, and he says having your baby baptized is a cultural thing here, a holdover from the days when everyone attended the C of E. Today, he said, lots of unsaved couples (including his sister and BIL) get their babies baptized because it's what they're "supposed to do," not because they have any intention of raising the kids in a Christian home or ever setting foot in a church again. That kind of thinking deeply, deeply disturbs me.

Well, that is not the kind of thinking that I perpetuate, and it is certainly not what my church teaches. We take baptismal vows very seriously, whether they are uttered by parents on behalf of a child or by an adult choosing baptism for him- or her-self. We counsel parents before baptism and discuss the expectations of raising the child in the Christian faith, and we discuss with the congregation the implications of the fact that we are vowing to be a Christian support to the entire family.