Can we have our baby Christened or Baptised at home?

Something else to consider (based on a friends experience) some priests will not christen a child if the parents are not married.

LadyoftheLake said :

The difference? Catholics get Baptised and other Christians get Christened…. If you don’t know the difference you really shouldn’t bother. Oh unless you want to get your kids in Catholic schools.

Really, I would have thought Baptists would get baptised and catholics, ermmm, licked?

The difference? Catholics get Baptised and other Christians get Christened…. If you don’t know the difference you really shouldn’t bother. Oh unless you want to get your kids in Catholic schools.

neanderthalsis said :

Jethro said :

If you are a Christian you can baptise him/her yourself. You don’t need a priest.
Although, why you would baptise your child is beyond me.
Particularly since the church abolsihed limbo…. (although I’m not sure what happened to all the babies that got sent there before it was abolished?)

They’re in a holding pattern around Saturn (hence the rings of stardust) waiting for admission to heaven; which has a “you must be this tall to ride” sign next to the gates.

I thought limbo was outsourced to India, was caught trying to re-enter illegally, and is not in a detention centre. Which makes sense when you think about it.

How about a Wiccaning? I don’t quite understand what you expect to gain from initiating your child into a religion you have no intention of practicing but it might as well be an interesting one.

Jethro said :

If you are a Christian you can baptise him/her yourself. You don’t need a priest.
Although, why you would baptise your child is beyond me.
Particularly since the church abolsihed limbo…. (although I’m not sure what happened to all the babies that got sent there before it was abolished?)

They’re in a holding pattern around Saturn (hence the rings of stardust) waiting for admission to heaven; which has a “you must be this tall to ride” sign next to the gates.

georgesgenitals said :

Most non-Catholic denominations would probably be happy to conduct the ceremony at home.

I would expect this to be the case. It was certainly the case when Mrs C and I tied the knot all those years ago (Catholic ceremony). We had a family friend, in fact he probably baptised me too, do the ceremony and he would have married us anywhere, but the locals wouldn’t allow us to do the deed outside a church, so to speak.

Sounds a bit daft, but Baptism *might* make it easier for junior to be accepted into a private (Catholic) school when the time comes, if that is a consideration.

Otherwise, don’t bother, and just go with what you want.

Jethro said :

Although, why you would baptise your child is beyond me.

About the only benefit is that most churches require at least one of the couple to be baptised in order to be able to be married in a church.

daddy said :

The full rite of baptism does include commitments to be practicing members of the church so that must be considered along with the feeling of just wanting to have it done.

I must admit, this is what turned us away from baptism for our kids. Having attended a friend’s kids baptism, we were very uncomfortable with the commitments the parents were asked to make – both from a belief and honesty point of view. In the end we had naming ceremonies for both our kids and we found that they were a much more personal and social event than the ‘batch job’ service provided by the church.

A tip for the inexperienced – write down the name of your child for the ceremony. What with the excitement of the day, meeting family and friends, organising the catering and keeping your child and other siblings quite during the ceremony, its not unknown to forget something at a critical moment – like the name of the child you are naming. A tad embarrassing when it gets to the bit ‘We name our child um, argh, oh whatshisname’.

daddy said :

Baptism is the first of the Christian Sacraments of Initialtion

Only if you subscribe to the Catholic version of Christianity.

If you are a Christian you can baptise him/her yourself. You don’t need a priest.
Although, why you would baptise your child is beyond me.
Particularly since the church abolsihed limbo…. (although I’m not sure what happened to all the babies that got sent there before it was abolished?)

Most non-Catholic denominations would probably be happy to conduct the ceremony at home.

Baptism is the first of the Christian Sacraments of Initialtion. It is generally performed in a church by a priest as that is the focal point of the religious community and the community is called upon to welcome and support the new member.

Having said that, Baptism can actually be performed by any Baptised person, a priest is not required, and can be done anywhere. The full rite of baptism does include commitments to be practicing members of the church so that must be considered along with the feeling of just wanting to have it done.

make sure you don’t give any money to the church, they use the money to keep paedophiles out of jail.

Jim Jones said :

Have an exorcism instead, much more fun.

mmmm…pea soup! Are they in season?

I thought a christening was simply about a service that recognises and welcomes the child to the church and wider community, stops you going to pergatory, etc. Baptism seemed to me to be a commitment thing – that can be taken at any time in your life, no matter how old you are and for those who are right into their belief system. I think there is a bit about repentance in there too, so that might all be a bit presumptious if you’re talking about a little’un. Might also depend on the church and flavour of christianity.

Either way you go, they’re about christian life and commiting your child . If that isn’t what you are looking for for your child, then a welcoming or naming ceremony would be what you’re looking for.

Christening/baptisms for babies are usually restricted to churches. If you are asking for a priest, you probably have a catholic background rather than protestant. I think you might find the water thing becomes an issue out of the church building itself. If it is important to you, why not just do the ceremony in a church then go home for the party?

Some church traditions have dedication ceremonies for babies. These ceremonies are similar to baptisms/christenings, but without the water. Those can be done anywhere, but you probably need to find someone willing to perform a religious ceremony for a family who is not religious.

Not too sure about the difference between a baptism/christening when it comes to babies – is it just how wet the poor thing gets?

I have been to some naming ceremonies, as suggested by ‘thatsnotme’, and I reckon that is what you are after. They seem a bit hippy in concept but you run them as you want – use whatever speeches or promises etc you want (just like a civil wedding), have a BBQ or morning tea at your house or a local area of prettiness.

Baptising et al has no legal status; it does have status within the church (eg you cant take communion without having been baptised) but if the church is not relevant to you then why bother. As an unbaptised person, I can assure you it doesnt make me a lesser man… (I leave that to all my other ‘talents’)

Have an exorcism instead, much more fun.

Traditionally Godparents were supposed to keep their Godchildren in shoes. Given your lack of Christian commitment, are you in fact attempting to reinstate this worthy practice?

Priests will baptise anywhere or at any time for anyone about to shuffle off the mortal coil.

KSSparent said :

Have you considered have a civil naming ceremony instead?

I think this would be the way to go, churches aren’t quite as casual about baptisms as you seem to be.

Gotta ask…if you’re not religious, don’t know the difference between a Christening and a Baptism…why are you bothering?

When my son turned one, along with his birthday we just did a small, completely informal naming ceremony for him in the backyard (on his birthday mainly because we hadn’t gotten our act together to do anything before then!) Chose a couple of good friends of ours to act as ‘godparents’ (so to speak), had them and our parents say a few words, and that was it. Nothing religious, nothing hippy about it, just a nice way to welcome him to the world.

If he ever decides that he wants a baptism or christening in the future, then that decision will be completely up to him.

Have you considered have a civil naming ceremony instead?

Get yourself a civil celebrant, they’ll do whatever you like where ever you like, and not look at you funny if both godparents are male.

As neanderthalsis said, Catholics can be picky about where they will God Up you baby, although there is a few options out side the church. A commissioned ship in the navy works, I was christened on a submarine….

I take it you’re after a Catholic service? If so, you can probably forget having the local Padre do the service unless there is some compelling reason for it not to be done in a church. You’ll most likely be required to attend a “class” or two on good religious parenting as well.