How many times have you been Baptised? (if at all)

oscash

oscash

Senior Member
Location
Sydney - Australia
I was having a discussion with my sister about World events. Next minute she surprised me when she said she was thinking of getting Baptised. I was taken aback and said she was Baptised a Catholic and she would die a Catholic. I asked her, what religion? and she said, "A Christian and have it done in the ocean".
I can't get my head around this, although I must admit my eldest sister got Baptised a Christian in someone's swimming pool 25 years ago, and said not to tell our parents, as they would be greatly saddened. I would like to hear someone's thoughts on the matter. I feel just being Baptised doesn't make you a better person, it's our actions in life on how you treat your fellow Man and trying to make a difference in society.

. I don't think reading the Bible every day will guarantee you a Golden ticket into Heaven either. I try to follow "The Beatitudes" which are 8 Blessings.
It's a way of life. I won't go into it, but it can be looked up.
 

Twice, once when I was about 9 or 10, again later as a 16 or 17 year old. The second time I did it for my grandma, She didn't ask me to, but I knew it would make her happy.
 
oscash said:
I was having a discussion with my sister about World events. Next minute she surprised me when she said she was thinking of getting Baptised. I was taken aback and said she was Baptised a Catholic and she would die a Catholic. I asked her, what religion? and she said, "A Christian and have it done in the ocean".
I can't get my head around this, although I must admit my eldest sister got Baptised a Christian in someone's swimming pool 25 years ago, and said not to tell our parents, as they would be greatly saddened. I would like to hear someone's thoughts on the matter. I feel just being Baptised doesn't make you a better person, it's our actions in life on how you treat your fellow Man and trying to make a difference in society.

. I don't think reading the Bible every day will guarantee you a Golden ticket into Heaven either. I try to follow "The Beatitudes" which are 8 Blessings.
It's a way of life. I won't go into it, but it can be looked up.
Click to expand...
If your daughter was baptised by a Catholic priest in Australia, her baptism is recognised by other denominations because she was baptised as a Christian, not simply into the Catholic Church. The same applies in reverse, people baptised by a minister of my denomination are recognised by the Anglican church, Catholic church, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand, the Armenian Church, Congregational Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. the Lutheran Church, Presbyterian Church, Romanian Orthodox and Uniting Church in Australia.**

All of the above churches recognise that baptism is a one time only sacrament, unlike the Eucharist. It is once and done and can be followed by confirmation in another denomination without needing a second baptism.

Baptism rites vary enormously but all involve water. It can be sprinkling on the head of a baby or full immersion in a pool or river. One Easter Sunday morning I witnessed a man being baptised fully clothed in the river not far from our church. The minister was also in the river up to his waist. I held my breath until they were both safely back on dry land because of the notice nearby that warned BEWARE OF SHARKS.

Years later we had a minister from South Africa who had delayed baptising his two boys until they were old enough to understand the ritual. He wanted them to be fully immersed as they do in Baptist ceremonies but our church does not have a baptismal pool, so he organised a bathtub to be brought into the front of the church and dunked them one by one. He then continued on to perform another ceremony to confirm their membership of the Uniting Church.

** Note that Baptist churches do not recognise baptism of infants and require full immersion. That would be why your sister was baptised a second time. There could be other Christian denominations that delay baptism until the age of reason but I am not aware of them.
 
I never really thought about it much until I was 64. When I chose to do it I took my preparation
lessons very seriously so I could put my whole heart into what I was promising. I was baptized
in a Baptism Font where when you came up from the water there was a painting of Jesus when you opened your eyes.
After in the dressing room the member who was my aide asked me as I dressed how I felt.
In all honesty and from the heart I replied " I feel whole, like everything is in it's place again" without hesitation.
I do think you have to understand what it is you are doing and believe in it.
I never looked at it as "get out of Hell Free card" I made scared promises and I meant to do my best to keep them.
Do I mess up, yes, we all do but I know those vows come back to me and put me right again.
I have had other churches who declined me to join their Women's groups until I would be baptized in their church name.
They just need the baptism number count as a selling point for their church. I already made my vows to God, he knows it
Jesus knows it, and I am good with that.
 
After the service the pastor asked Dave and I for dinner at his house. I was 20, Dave was 20, and we were at Mt. Lassen Church of Christ.

After dinner the pastor thought it important to go through the Bible and show us how Jesus wants those who believe in him to be baptized. Though it was winter and the Churches baptistry water was very very cold, I wanted to be baptized right then. We drove to the Church in the snow, and he baptized me. Boy, was I glad to get out of that water and leave my sins there. :)
 
I was "sprinkled" as an infant, because my parents attended the Methodist church at the time.

Then later, when we attended a "full baptism" church, I was baptized. I grew up attending church faithfully but fell away when I left home.

Some churches strongly believe that if you're not fully immersed, it's not a true baptism. When we first moved to Orlando, I thought to start going to church again, so I started searching for the right church. One Sunday, we attended one particular church that was a "full baptism" church. At the time, they had an interim minister, a retired one who was filling in until the church hired a permanent minister.

He stopped his sermon in the middle to tell a story that really upset me. He said that he had been visiting an older man named Eddie who lived in a nursing home because he had some sort of disease/problem that twisted his body terribly. The man was contorted into a fetal position and never left his bed as he had to handled very gently. Every week, the minister would visit him and take him a tape of the previous week's sermon. The gentleman became interested in wanting to join the church before he died, but of course, he couldn't be taken to the church and baptized.

The interim minister went to the Board of Elders of the church and asked if an exception could be made to perform a non-immersion baptism in the man's hospital bed because of the special circumstances. The Board turned him down, saying that only a total immersion would do.

The minister said that he had to return to Eddie and tell him the results. He said that the old gentleman was sad to hear the news but accepted the situation. Then he said, "Eddie died a few days ago. It pains me to do so, but I have to tell you that I am ashamed of what has happened and I am ashamed of this church. I am ashamed of myself. I am ashamed that we failed Eddie." And he walked away and didn't finish the service.

I did not go back to that church. And that's part of why I now consider myself a "Christian at Large". I think I am "spiritual" but I am not a church-goer.

I cannot believe that God asks you at the Pearly Gates, "Did you get your hair wet or just damp?"
 
jujube said:
I was "sprinkled" as an infant, because my parents attended the Methodist church at the time.

Then later, when we attended a "full baptism" church, I was baptized. I grew up attending church faithfully but fell away when I left home.

Some churches strongly believe that if you're not fully immersed, it's not a true baptism. When we first moved to Orlando, I thought to start going to church again, so I started searching for the right church. One Sunday, we attended one particular church that was a "full baptism" church. At the time, they had an interim minister, a retired one who was filling in until the church hired a permanent minister.

He stopped his sermon in the middle to tell a story that really upset me. He said that he had been visiting an older man named Eddie who lived in a nursing home because he had some sort of disease/problem that twisted his body terribly. The man was contorted into a fetal position and never left his bed as he had to handled very gently. Every week, the minister would visit him and take him a tape of the previous week's sermon. The gentleman became interested in wanting to join the church before he died, but of course, he couldn't be taken to the church and baptized.

The interim minister went to the Board of Elders of the church and asked if an exception could be made to perform a non-immersion baptism in the man's hospital bed because of the special circumstances. The Board turned him down, saying that only a total immersion would do.

The minister said that he had to return to Eddie and tell him the results. He said that the old gentleman was sad to hear the news but accepted the situation. Then he said, "Eddie died a few days ago. It pains me to do so, but I have to tell you that I am ashamed of what has happened and I am ashamed of this church. I am ashamed of myself. I am ashamed that we failed Eddie." And he walked away and didn't finish the service.

I did not go back to that church. And that's part of why I now consider myself a "Christian at Large". I think I am "spiritual" but I am not a church-goer.

I cannot believe that God asks you at the Pearly Gates, "Did you get your hair wet or just damp?"
Click to expand...
That story hit hard… and you’re absolutely right. If faith is supposed to be about love, compassion, and grace, then denying a dying man a chance to be baptized just because he couldn’t be dunked is the exact opposite of that. What that minister said took guts, and honesty.

I respect your view completely. Being “spiritual but not a church-goer” doesn’t make your faith weaker. It might actually make it more real, because it comes from your heart, not from someone else’s rulebook.
 
jujube said:
I was "sprinkled" as an infant, because my parents attended the Methodist church at the time.

Then later, when we attended a "full baptism" church, I was baptized. I grew up attending church faithfully but fell away when I left home.

Some churches strongly believe that if you're not fully immersed, it's not a true baptism. When we first moved to Orlando, I thought to start going to church again, so I started searching for the right church. One Sunday, we attended one particular church that was a "full baptism" church. At the time, they had an interim minister, a retired one who was filling in until the church hired a permanent minister.

He stopped his sermon in the middle to tell a story that really upset me. He said that he had been visiting an older man named Eddie who lived in a nursing home because he had some sort of disease/problem that twisted his body terribly. The man was contorted into a fetal position and never left his bed as he had to handled very gently. Every week, the minister would visit him and take him a tape of the previous week's sermon. The gentleman became interested in wanting to join the church before he died, but of course, he couldn't be taken to the church and baptized.

The interim minister went to the Board of Elders of the church and asked if an exception could be made to perform a non-immersion baptism in the man's hospital bed because of the special circumstances. The Board turned him down, saying that only a total immersion would do.

The minister said that he had to return to Eddie and tell him the results. He said that the old gentleman was sad to hear the news but accepted the situation. Then he said, "Eddie died a few days ago. It pains me to do so, but I have to tell you that I am ashamed of what has happened and I am ashamed of this church. I am ashamed of myself. I am ashamed that we failed Eddie." And he walked away and didn't finish the service.

I did not go back to that church. And that's part of why I now consider myself a "Christian at Large". I think I am "spiritual" but I am not a church-goer.

I cannot believe that God asks you at the Pearly Gates, "Did you get your hair wet or just damp?"
Click to expand...

*sigh...*

I'm not religious, but If I were presented with the circumstances you describe, and was in a position to, I would have baptised the man anyway. In whichever way was appropriate for the man's circumstances, regardless of whether that particular church recognises it or not.

It's not about the church, it's about the man. Who needs to be aware of the baptism -- only the man.

Who is the minister working for? Technically the church, but to serve their flock
 
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