(Which doesn't happen too often for a Baptist)
I've talked a bit about religion on the blog, and my dissertation (shall we assume for the moment that I am writing a dissertation) is on religion, but I can't recall how much I've revealed about my own religion. So I'm Baptist (insert stereotypes and assumptions here). My daughter goes to a Baptist church every Sunday, and she goes to a Lutheran preschool during the week. My sister-in-law (who is especially Baptist) was appalled that we were sending her to a Lutheran preschool, but my response was that they are not teaching her Lutheran doctrine at two years old. But this week I found out that they were baptising baby dolls at school (seriously!), and RB said that she is going to baptise her sister when she's born. This is an interesting coincidence because on Sunday we are going to a Methodist church to see a friend's baby baptised. Baptists don't baptise babies. I plan to bring Rebekah into the service at least for the baptism instead of sending her straight to the nursery. I think she will be very interested in the baptism since she has "participated" in one at school.
I don't have any specific thoughts on this right now--I'm sort of trying to work out how to handle it. Some of my questions are, What does RB understand about baptism at this age? What does she think is happening? Will she notice that her sister will not be baptised (at least not as an infant)? Will she ask if she was baptised? Should I explain that some churches baptise babies while others don't? Should I wait until she asks?
Our church does have a nice baby dedication service that will sort of take the place of a baptism service (certainly not the same thing but it might look similar to a young child). Perhaps it will be enough to explain that some churches use water and some do not. But that's not really the truth. And I have a feeling that it is going to be more complicated than that even for RB.
So this post just sets up the problem. Maybe I will have more later when we start working these things out. For now, I am listening to what she has to say. And she does have things to say.
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5 comments:
Wow! What an interesting event!! I think it's great that you are letting her attend the baptism and think about all of this. It will be fascinating to see what she asks when (if?) she does ask. Good luck! It is certainly a complex issue, but so often they figure out answers that will satisfy them, and then come up with things that surprise us! Like when my son suggested that when the baby was born it would be like how a chicken lays an egg. Wow! Kids can be so cool.
My son was baptized just a few years ago--certainly not an infant--but he knows that his sister was baptized as an infant. Of course, he's had some religious instruction explaining the significance. Incidently, he also saw me baptized, and I was baptized after he was! (And witnessed our Sacramental marriage. THAT's gonna raise some mental questions!)
It's probably fine to say some churches do and some don't. I like that option better than the with and without water option.
Not that I'm the authority, but since you put it out here, I thought I'd offer some friendly support & an opinion or two! ;)
kizzy hasn't been baptized yet, either--unusual for us, since we're ango-catholic--but I did just take her to a baptism. She loved it. i think she even mentioned the new baby being baptized. I just told her we were going to wait a little while until she was older, but when she (kizzy) would like to be baptized, she should just let me know. She nodded solemnly and hasn't brought it up since.
we are waiting b/c I was raised baptist and my husband conservative evangelical and I was 5 when i was baptized and he was about 12. So we both remember and wanted our kids to remember their own baptisms.
oh, and I'm all for explaining that churches do things differently, as well. In terms of christian history (which may or may not matter much to you) but infant and adult baptism have been practised concurrently from a very early period.
I am Baptist as well and I think the simpiler the better at a young age. For now I think it is okay to tell her that different churches do things differently. As she gets older and is discipled more she will understand the reasons why we are baptized after our salvation experience. It may be a good idea to make sure she sees a baptism of an older child at your church so she knows what YOUR church does. Just some ideas. Good luck!
Very interesting discussion! I think you're right -- let her lead the way, answer her questions as they come.
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