Salvation Army girl asking a question about infant baptism...

[Sascha Fitzpatrick]

Would you believe this all stems from two heirloom Christening gowns???

My family-in-law are all Lutheran. Hubby and I are Salvation Army (although his mum still believes him to be a Lutheran as 'once one, always one').

When there were discussions about our future children, his mum made a comment about them wearing their heirloom gown during their Christening. My mum shared with her that I had one too, so it would have to be up to us.

Anyway, I was thinking of having two ceremonies - our Salvation Army dedication (just a prayer of thanks for the child, and a commitment of the church to give a good Christ witness to our child - no baptism) being the 'big' event; and then just going down to my hubbys family to have a service at their church.

I've since discovered that the Lutheran Baptim is VERY different to our dedication service, and I'm a bit unsure if I've made the right decision. I was thinking it would be a rather 'intimate' event, and it turns out it's quite a big deal.

Would someone mind sharing with me the 'ins and outs' of an Infant Baptism in Lutheran churches - as hubby can't really remember, and I'm getting all different types of information.

Questions I need answered are

* Is it part of the service?
* When you say 'baptism' - is it chest and head, or just head with sign of cross or...? How is the baptism performed basically
* Do we need to attend classes?
* Do we get asked questions?
* Do we have candles/godparents?

Thank you so much for your help. The main thing is I would have liked to have both gowns utilised for our baby, so I suggested having both 'dedication' services, only to find out Lutherans do it very differently to what I'm used to (I was assuming it would be 'this is Mr&Mrs H's grandchild - let's give thanks to God for this baby' kinda thing).

Sasch

 

[filosofer]

Would you believe this all stems from two heirloom Christening gowns???

My family-in-law are all Lutheran. Hubby and I are Salvation Army (although his mum still believes him to be a Lutheran as 'once one, always one').

When there were discussions about our future children, his mum made a comment about them wearing their heirloom gown during their Christening. My mum shared with her that I had one too, so it would have to be up to us.

Anyway, I was thinking of having two ceremonies - our Salvation Army dedication (just a prayer of thanks for the child, and a commitment of the church to give a good Christ witness to our child - no baptism) being the 'big' event; and then just going down to my hubbys family to have a service at their church.

I've since discovered that the Lutheran Baptim is VERY different to our dedication service, and I'm a bit unsure if I've made the right decision. I was thinking it would be a rather 'intimate' event, and it turns out it's quite a big deal.

Would someone mind sharing with me the 'ins and outs' of an Infant Baptism in Lutheran churches - as hubby can't really remember, and I'm getting all different types of information.

Questions I need answered are

* Is it part of the service?
* When you say 'baptism' - is it chest and head, or just head with sign of cross or...? How is the baptism performed basically
* Do we need to attend classes?
* Do we get asked questions?
* Do we have candles/godparents?

Thank you so much for your help. The main thing is I would have liked to have both gowns utilised for our baby, so I suggested having both 'dedication' services, only to find out Lutherans do it very differently to what I'm used to (I was assuming it would be 'this is Mr&Mrs H's grandchild - let's give thanks to God for this baby' kinda thing).

Sasch

How exciting that you are asking the questions!

As Lutherans we believe that Baptism is something that God does for us, not something that we do. We believe that it is one of the means by which God bestows grace upon the person ("be baptised for the forgiveness of sins" - Acts 22:16). Therefore Baptism is a big deal, not just to us, but also to God.

Baptism is also not a "family" affair, but rather a Church affair. The Word, Baptism, the Lord's Supper are the gathering place of the Church, the Church is brought into being by Baptism. Therefore, a Baptism is not a private thing, but an opportunity to rejoice as God brings the person (no matter the age) into a saving relationship with God ("baptism now saves" 1 Peter 3:21) and an incorporation into the body of Christ (Church) - Romans 6:3-5, Titus 3:3-7, etc.

The questions relate to the confession of faith, into which the person is baptized; that is, "Do you believe...?" does not "answer for the child", rather it is an acknowledgement that this is indeed Scriptural, a part of what it means to confess the faith, and that God is at work.

In Christ's love,
filo

 

[BigNorsk]

To get definite answers to your questions you need to talk to the pastor. Here's some general things.

The mode of baptism would usually be pouring the water over the head three times in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is usualy done during services but not always. Since it is bringing the child into the body of Christ it isn't really a private thing even if done privately. There are often godparents or sponsors involved, and the congregation usually takes an active part as well.

If you both consider yourself in the Salvation Army and that is where you intend to stay, I'm not sure if most Lutheran pastors would baptist your child. Again, you will have to ask.

The major difficulty is the differences between the Salvation Army and Lutherans in understanding baptism. Lutherans see Baptism as a reception of the Gospel by the person being baptised, it is a visual Gospel. The Salvation Army sees baptism as having no importance or being irrelavant today. So to a Lutheran, the Salvation Army is saying the Gospel is irrelavant and not necessary today. I'm just not so sure most Lutheran pastors would perform a baptism on a child of a pair of parents who consider it to be an outdated ordinance and nothing more.

Marv

 

[SPALATIN]

I agree with Filo and Big Norsk,

Baptism is way to important for your child than just a simple dedication. In the greek the word for saved is sesosmenoi. When bringing out the meaning of that word it is a middle passive tense and means something that was done but continues to be done. So at baptism the child is born from above (not necessarily born again). The word saved implies that salvation of the child is an ongoing process. On our own we can walk away from our Baptism so we need continuous nourishment from the father to sustain our salvation. This nourishment comes in the form of word and sacrament.

Ask questions of the Lutheran Pastor and then compare what he says to what scripture says and see for yourself the benefits of Holy Baptism.

 

[C.F.W. Walther]

This is interesting. You're from Australia so maybe they do things a little different in the Lutheran churches there. Can't imagine there would be much differences but even in the US we have a wide range of beliefs even within the Lutheran church. Just check with the local pastor and see what he has to say.

 

[Sascha Fitzpatrick]

Thanks guys,

BigNorsk - I'm not sure where you got the idea that SA considers Baptism irrelevant or outdated. That has certainly not been the case in my experience...

Thank you for telling me some of the particulars. I didn't realise it involved so much, and assumed it was more like the thanksgiving/accountability services I have been used to in the denominations I have attended (SA/Baptist/Pentecostal).

Sasch