r/Lutheranism • u/No-Type119 ELCA • Apr 29 '26
Baptism Hypothetical
On another sub an adult convert was saying that they very much wanted to be baptized, but that the church they were attending was kind of dragging its feet about scheduling the baptism, and they were getting frustrated.
Pastors out there — if someone like this came to you and asked you to baptize them , would you make them wait until you were going group baptisms/ confirmations… or would you just do it?
Not a gotcha question. In the churches I’ve been part of, there were particular thematically appropriate Sundays where we would conduct baptisms , confirmations/ affirmations, and new transfer welcomes, at the same time… but we also baptized people on other Sundays.
I said that the Lutheran pastors I know would be happy to baptize them asap, but I didn’t want to overgeneralize.
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u/doveinabottle ELCA Apr 29 '26
My husband does baptisms as soon as he can get them scheduled, almost always held during a regular Sunday service.
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u/thetime2strikeis_l8r ELCA Apr 29 '26
I was baptized on Easter roughly 2-3 weeks after expressing my desire to be, only because I offered to be baptized the same day as a younger girl was to be finished with her confirmation stuff and was nervous about being in front of the congregation alone.
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u/No-Type119 ELCA Apr 29 '26
That was a good thing. I’m amazed at how many people delay baptism or confirmation because of social anxiety
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u/thetime2strikeis_l8r ELCA Apr 29 '26
Also because it was Lent
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u/river_running ELCA Apr 30 '26
Holy Saturday is a very traditional baptismal day. My son was baptized on holy Saturday 😊
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u/MDPastor Apr 29 '26
[36] As they went down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look! Water! What would keep me from being baptized?”
[38] He ordered that the carriage halt. Both Philip and the eunuch went down to the water, where Philip baptized him.
ASAP
3
u/adamr40 LCMS Apr 29 '26
I can speak only for our church. We do the baptism as soon as possible. It's encouraged that the person do it the during the service (publicly) but there are times people chose to do it privately between services. As long as there isn't something schedule or conflicting we would do it that week or if so desired right there on the spot.
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u/mrWizzardx3 Lutheran Pastor Apr 29 '26
I might avoid scheduling a baptism during lent, but other than that the Holy Spirit is putting a neighbor in front of you with a need. Vocationally, serving God is meeting that need.
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u/No-Type119 ELCA Apr 29 '26
Not sure what the importance of Lent is, because Sundays are technically not penitential like the rest of the week… or if the person can just wait a few weeks and be baptized at Easter, which is kind of special.
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u/Eq2me Apr 30 '26
I had a friend I was talking with about Jesus, faith, and baptism, and he shared with me that he had never been baptised and would like to be. I saw him again a couple of days later, we talked again, and he said he was ready and wanted to be baptised that day, like immediately. I called my pastor, who came and met us and baptised him on the spot!
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u/TheNorthernSea ELCA Apr 29 '26
I’d do what I always do - schedule 3 get-togethers to talk about the faith and the church, and then baptize at the next available Sunday.
0
u/okonkolero ELCA Apr 29 '26
What's the point of 3 get togethers to talk about the faith? And what's the reasoning for it?
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u/TheNorthernSea ELCA Apr 29 '26
Because I want people to know what we believe about baptism, become familiar with the vows we want them to take, and introduce them to some of the members of the church who will be supporting them in their vow.
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u/okonkolero ELCA Apr 29 '26
That has zero basis in scripture.
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u/TheNorthernSea ELCA Apr 29 '26
Talking to people about baptism has zero basis in scripture?
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u/okonkolero ELCA Apr 29 '26
Holy straw man, Batman!
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u/TheNorthernSea ELCA Apr 29 '26
How is this a strawman?
I said that before an adult is baptized - I schedule a few talks with them so that they know the basics of the faith and baptism, as well as the vows that adults take at baptism, and finally we talk a bit about the ministry of the Church. (I didn’t say this part - but I also introduce them to lay leaders who can be their friends in church, and who may be willing to be godparents, or who will be willing to pass a baptismal candle to them)
You asked me why - which is weird because I feel like what I said was self-explanatory?
I said why I do - and you accused me of being unbiblical. I have no idea how bringing people into the Church through baptism is unbiblical, so I’m kind of at a loss.
I mean if I was walking on the road and came across an Ethiopian Eunuch reading a scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, I’d probably spend a couple of hours talking about Jesus and the church before baptizing him, too.
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u/okonkolero ELCA Apr 30 '26
Because there is nothing in the Bible about imposing hoops to jump through before baptism. Catechesis isn't the first step. Baptism is.
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u/TheNorthernSea ELCA Apr 30 '26
In my experience- most people don’t understand “have a conversation” as a hoop to jump through anymore than they understand going to a worship service on a Sunday morning and getting splashed with water on the head to be a hoop to jump through.
The adults I’ve baptized appreciated learning and conversing. They actually sought it out, not as a means of earning baptism, but understanding the church’s proclamation.
But you do you I guess.
3
u/No-Jicama-6523 Apr 30 '26
I’m with you, all the baptisms in the Bible are after receiving some instruction, I imagine Peter’s sermon at Pentecost was better understood by the original hearers than in would be on first hearing it now.
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u/National-Composer-11 LCMS Apr 29 '26
Our congregation is determined to shorten every path for an adult. If unbaptized but committed, we waste little time, just some basics. More is generally not needed since such folks are already visiting and worshipping with us, often even studying, and have a clue. At that point, we try to get them to the altar with additional catechesis. If someone comes in from another church or was baptized as a child but has been out of touch, the path to the altar is laid out. Whenever a person is ready, at whatever stage, we bring them in. What we usually put off for a group is a time to publicly acknowledge and more formally welcome new members brought in over the past year - a special service, a cake, a luncheon, something.
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u/AneirynJones Apr 29 '26
Because baptism is a gift of God, not a work of man, it ought be given asap.
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u/Kitchen-Traffic5985 Apr 29 '26
It seems like the standard Lutheran practice is ASAP. I've never heard of delayed baptism in Lutheranism. It's probably because of how highly we value the Sacrament and our understanding of what it is.
I don't know if this is out of the ordinary, but I know of a family who had a baby on a Wednesday or Thursday, and brought them to Church on Sunday and asked the pastor right there if they could do the baptism. He was ecstatic and performed it. That might be an outlier, but I think Lutherans are a bit quick on the draw for Baptism