((I recently had my birthday :). On my birthday it was a special treat to have a baptism of a new friend at our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In telling another friend about it, she asked what a baptism is like. My explanation kept getting longer and longer..and I wanted to add links, so I figured I'd turn it into a blog post :). And the LDS in the title refers to another nickname we have (other than the Mormons), "Latter-day Saints"))
A baptismal service begins and ends like most all of our services do--song and prayer on both ends, like bookends ;). There is often a talk or two about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost (the second half of baptism--baptism by fire).
In this most recent case a recently baptized member shared his testimony instead (Among other things he told us how grateful he is for Jesus Christ and how it has brought him so much joy to have found Christ's church). Then the missionaries (two Elders and two Sisters) sang a song. I felt the Spirit during their song. I felt they were singing their testimonies, what they believed. It was lovely. That all happened in the chapel (though some church buildings are set up differently. Then they hold the service in another room that is connected to the baptismal font).
Then we went to where the baptismal font is (have you seen one? it's kinda like a large bathtub, tall enough to stand in). The person who is getting baptized (we'll call them the baptizee) and the person baptizing (the baptizer) are both dressed in white to symbolize purity.
(Here's a picture from my mission)
The baptizer then lowers the baptizee completely into the water and then raises him (or her) up again (We call it baptism by immersion--because you are completely immersed in water). That symbolizes the old life dying and then being resurrected or spiritually 'reborn'.
After that we went back into the chapel to wait for them to get changed into dry clothes. During this waiting time, you can sing hymns, write good wishes to the baptizee, watch a little church video, etc. In our case we wrote our good wishes to N, the man who had been baptized, while one of the sister missionaries played the piano.
Then, once baptizee and baptizer had returned, a member of the bishopric officially welcomed him. (The bishopric, made up of the bishop and his two counselors, lead our congregation)
(You can be baptized as early as 8, the age of accountability--meaning they have enough maturity to choose for themselves (and can therefore use the cleansing power of the baptism. Before that age, children don't need baptism). In the case of a child's baptism, they would at this point be confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and given the gift of the Holy Ghost as a constant companion. In the case of adult baptisms, the confirmation generally happens on the next Sunday, as was the case with N.)
Then we sang and prayed (as I said earlier, bookends ;) ) Then we congratulated N and had some small refreshments that several people had brought (the refreshments are optional, but who doesn't like something to munch?)
N was glowing and so happy to be clean, to be reborn!
In telling another friend about it, she asked what a baptism is like. My explanation kept getting longer and longer..and I wanted to add links, so I figured I'd turn it into a blog post :). And the LDS in the title refers to another nickname we have (other than the Mormons), "Latter-day Saints"))
A baptismal service begins and ends like most all of our services do--song and prayer on both ends, like bookends ;). There is often a talk or two about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost (the second half of baptism--baptism by fire).
In this most recent case a recently baptized member shared his testimony instead (Among other things he told us how grateful he is for Jesus Christ and how it has brought him so much joy to have found Christ's church). Then the missionaries (two Elders and two Sisters) sang a song. I felt the Spirit during their song. I felt they were singing their testimonies, what they believed. It was lovely. That all happened in the chapel (though some church buildings are set up differently. Then they hold the service in another room that is connected to the baptismal font).
Then we went to where the baptismal font is (have you seen one? it's kinda like a large bathtub, tall enough to stand in). The person who is getting baptized (we'll call them the baptizee) and the person baptizing (the baptizer) are both dressed in white to symbolize purity.
(Here's a picture from my mission)
They walk down into the water. Then the baptizer says the full name of the baptizee and then says a small prayer. This prayer is one of the few that is always said the same. Most other prayers we say are very open so that we can speak the feelings of our heart at the time of praying. However this is one that the Lord told us to say in this way. It goes like this:
- (Full name of baptizee), “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:73)
The baptizer then lowers the baptizee completely into the water and then raises him (or her) up again (We call it baptism by immersion--because you are completely immersed in water). That symbolizes the old life dying and then being resurrected or spiritually 'reborn'.
After that we went back into the chapel to wait for them to get changed into dry clothes. During this waiting time, you can sing hymns, write good wishes to the baptizee, watch a little church video, etc. In our case we wrote our good wishes to N, the man who had been baptized, while one of the sister missionaries played the piano.
Then, once baptizee and baptizer had returned, a member of the bishopric officially welcomed him. (The bishopric, made up of the bishop and his two counselors, lead our congregation)
(You can be baptized as early as 8, the age of accountability--meaning they have enough maturity to choose for themselves (and can therefore use the cleansing power of the baptism. Before that age, children don't need baptism). In the case of a child's baptism, they would at this point be confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and given the gift of the Holy Ghost as a constant companion. In the case of adult baptisms, the confirmation generally happens on the next Sunday, as was the case with N.)
Then we sang and prayed (as I said earlier, bookends ;) ) Then we congratulated N and had some small refreshments that several people had brought (the refreshments are optional, but who doesn't like something to munch?)
N was glowing and so happy to be clean, to be reborn!
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