In Reply to: Anyone ever perform a baptism? posted by TB on February 06, 2004 at 22:24:22:
Many mainstream churches teach that ordinary believers (lay people) are empowered by virtue of their own baptism to baptise others. Even in the catholic church, it's not something that requires ordination or licensure in order to be considered valid.
Farmer correctly pointed out the difference between baptism (immersion) and christening (sprinkling with water). Christening is generally what occurs with infants and small children, since it could be dangerous to immerse them.
However, a biblically-based practice of baptism involves immersion. It also involves a confession of faith, which is like the little prayer we (TF) used to get people to say in order to be saved. If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, etc., etc. So if you want to go with the biblical ingredients, water and confession of faith are what's necessary.
How old are these children? There is a difference of opinion among Christians about whether children should be baptised at the wish of their parents or whether they should be allowed to wait until an age of consent and request it for themselves as an act of faith. I assume you've already worked this one through and are comfortable with the practice of infant/child baptism?
With the practice of infant (small child) baptism, the parent and/or other responsible adults usually make a confession of faith on the child's behalf. The child is sprinkled or even immersed, but the parents speak for the child with regard to accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. This can be as simple as the parents and other responsible adults are making a promise to teach the child to love and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.
There are people who have a somewhat superstitious attitude about what baptism means, like it "protects" the child against evil spirits and "seals" the child for all eternity as one of God's own. In my opinion, that's magical thinking. No matter what prayers and rituals go on, it's only water. What protects a child against evil spirits (if such things exist) is the nurturance of faith-full parents and the spiritual life of the family as a whole.
Do these children have a mother? What does she say about wanting her children baptised?
Many years ago I baptised both of my children at home by immersing them in a tub of warm water and dedicating them with a prayer of faith. The warm water is pretty important, btw, because when cold water hits little kids, they will sometimes scream and cry. Whatever you decide to do, try to make it a pleasant experience for the child. If the child is old enough to talk, both you and the parents should explain what you will be doing and why. Keep it at an age-appropriate level, and allow the children as much consideration as possible. After all, they're the ones being baptised, not the father.
Personally, I no longer subscribe to the practice of child baptism. I've taken this position because I'm a child advocate, and I think adults should be very cautious about the things they do to a child in his or her "best interests." Being a child advocate simply means trying to take the kid's point of view: Is this something you would want and choose if you were the child in question?
Baptism is a fairly innocuous pratice (meaning, it is not particularly invasive or distasteful), so it's not going to be overtly harmful to a child. But what about the confession of faith (if you chose to do that part of the formula)? Does anyone have the right to make a confession of faith for another human being? If the confession of faith is simply a matter of the parents promising to faithfully raise the child in a Christan home, what does that mean? Lots of SGs were raised in "Christian" homes, you know.
Which leads me to ask, why are you considering doing this? What is it you believe you are doing for the child? Aren't you really doing something for the father, too? It seems this is more about taking care of his spiritual needs than that of the children. That's OK, but try to be sensitive to when people use their children as a way of getting their own needs met.