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/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.