This letter is associated with the following article:
Letters
Friday, September 1, 2006 12:00 AM

I've lost control of my son's christening!

Crazy relatives are coming. They're staying with us. Help!

Read other letters about this article

  • Thursday, August 31, 2006 08:48 PM

    Well, as a pastor

    in the Presbyterian/United Church of Christ traditions, I would not officiate at a baptism where the parents "contacted" my church, but had no connection with it. A Baptism is part of a regular church service where parents do indeed promise to raise their child in the Christian faith, and the congregation promises to be part of the child's nurturing. However,it is also a pastoral reality that someone whose parents are faithful members of my congregation, or someone who comes in sporadically, and declares every intention of being faithful, will request baptism, and in those cases I would say yes, and not be too shocked if those promises are unfulfilled.

    In Reformed Tradition churches, baptism is not required to save a person's soul. It marks us as part of the Christian community, and acknowledges both the relationship that God has with a person, and in the case of parents having children baptised, recognizes their including those children in the covenant community (which, as someone stated, is self-affirmed in a young person's confirmation).

    The parents' marital status would have no bearing on my willingness to do a baptism, though if parents were _planning_ on getting married, I might discuss the order of these ceremonies.

Most Active Letters Threads

434

The crazy, irrational beliefs of Muslims

Tom Friedman explains the real problem: stupid Muslims think the U.S. is about war and aggression.
426

A key British official reminds us of the forgotten anthrax attack

A vast array of establishment and expert sources do not believe this episode was really resolved.
210

Is Obama's civil liberties record understandable?

Was it unreasonable to expect him to adhere to his commitments regarding the Constitution?
111

How dare you criticize wasteful defense spending!

So you think it's only terrorist-appeasing lefties who are down on Pentagon profligacy? Think again
61

Police to talk to Woods

Early morning crash raises questions, and revives tabloid speculation

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon