Baptized children in rain...not in church. Water from heaven is blessed is it not ?

Question

My children are now 14 (son) and 17, 20 (daughters). I was raised Presbyterian...For years now have been non-denominational...simply spiritual. I deeply feel Love and joy and Knowingness of God, Jesus Christ, Spirit, Soul et al within and around me.

When my children were tiny babies...I called a few churchs to see if I could bring my baby in to be baptized. I was told " No " as they wanted me to join the church.

While I'm respecting of all faiths and religions...I chose not to join any one religion.

Soooo...Another thought came to my mind . . .It was rainy season. . .I took my baby child outside wrapped up in their blanket. . . .Standing out in the open rain I pulled back the blanket from their head...I shared a prayer / conversation with God and expressed to him that I know who I am and who my child is to Him and that I dedicate my child to Him and that I would raise my child in the Glory of His Love and Blessings. I let the rain fall over my baby child's head. Blessed ?

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I felt peaceful with this and did this with my other two children a few weeks after they were born. Just myself, my infant baby, God and the rain from the sky. There dad was not present as, while he was a good enough man...he was more of a living life person, not so much a soulful person. I am fine with how I shared with God, the heavens and the rain that day . . . Yet also wondering...what would be the thought of churchs. Where is it written that only a ' formal ' " religious " person can ' perform ' a babtism. I'm respectfully asking and wondering.

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After reading "William T's" answer...Question arises...How does water that churchs use get ' blessed ' ? . That ' blessed ' water in churchs came from the sky. I emitted Love and my dedication to God for my child into that water as I saw it fall onto my babies face. How is water in a church 'blessed'?

Answer 1

If you believe it, then it is so.
You shouldn't be worried how the churches view this. You are the only person that will ever know your relationship with God. If you truly wanted the rain to bless your baby, then I'm sure he would do that for you.

But I agree with William up there. Pretty dirty rain water.

Answer 2

The problem is there is no such thing as infant baptism. When you read the NT you see that people make the decision to repent and take Jesus as LORD before they get baptized. An infant is incapable of making such decisions and therefore should not be baptized until they choose and theyre ready!

Another problem is that when you do get a baptism, you are supposed to be emmersed in water. The word baptiso in the greek means "to dunk" and that is how Jesus was baptized.

Yet another problem is that when you get baptized, you are supposed to take your confession of faith and get baptized by a believer (who knows Scripture) and traditionally a man. (though some women do it) Since you dont know enough of the Bible to even know what a proper NT baptism is, what makes you qualified to baptize your kids when you yourself dont know the truth?

Well from your statements it is unclear whether you even go to a church or not but if youre not I strongly encourage you to and to read and pray over the NT. I hope that your kids have been recieving Biblical training because if they havent by now they are going to be resistant.

That church was wrong btw in insisting you become a member first, DEAD WRONG. And Im sorry that so many churches out there arent living by the principles laid down for us in Scripture. I really hope and pray you find a place where you and your kids and husband can grow with God and if you have any Q's lemme know. Take care.

Answer 3

If you felt at peace with this, it's your life, and I wouldn't want to interfere with it. However, if you're asking what the Presbyterian belief is, there are a couple points I want to make.

- The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 27, IV, mentions that, "there are only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospels; that is to say, baptism, and the supper of the Lord: neither of which may be dispensed by any, but by Minister of the word lawfully ordained." And there are several scriptural texts used to support this statement.

- Chapter 28 of the WCF covers the sacrament of baptism and exactly what it means to the Presbyterians. It appears that you were not aware of this as you performed this rite yourself.

- Baptist beliefs, on the other hand are very nearly the opposite of Presbyterian beliefs concerning baptism. "Any believer can baptize" according to my pastor, but of course being Baptist he does not believe the infant baptism to be valid.

- So while it was probably a beautiful, intimate moment for you and your child, neither end of the spectrum would agree with your "ceremony" being a valid baptism.

Answer 4

no the rain was not blessed and neither was your own ceremony,no offence to you. you may be in touch spiritually but you are not in communion with christ by these actions. i will give you a list of sites and other references that may help you, i know you may not be into them but you may find them usefull,despite that they may or may not come from the same group that told you no in the first place

scripturecatholic.com
salvationhistory.com
ewtn.com
catholicanswers.com
fisheaters.com
the bible
catechism
we believe....a survey of the catholic faith by oscar lukefahr,c.m

i do think your child is blessed in some way as a seperated brothe/sister in christ i just feel that the ceremony does not substitute or replace baptism.

the water is blessed by a priest in response to your additions,to show and explain why it is necessary for a priest and why the priest has this authority a catechism,catholicanswers.com(you can ask a professional any questions and continue the dialogue until you are satisfied/or not) and scripturecatholic.com will cover the basis for the churchs approach to these matters,again you do not have to agree with them but it will clarify the questions you have.

Answer 5

The WBS gets an excellent sort of issues approximately Christianity incorrect. I had no concept of this till I walked out of the dominion corridor right into a real church I understand why the WBS tells ambitious confronted lies approximately different church homes, they'd not if their own faith wasn't so fragile. Direct answer on your question isn't any no longer a single Christian Denomination teaches that Baptism is needed for salvation,we are saved via Grace no longer works

Answer 6

I think you did a wonderful thing. It sounds so beautiful.
Most churches only offer infant baptism to members because it is actually the family and church members who are pledging to bring the child up in the way of the Lord. I'm so sorry you had such a negative reaction.

Answer 7

Baptism represents the death, burial, and resurrection of Lord Jesus. We do this as an outward show of our faith to the public. This is why I believe children shouldn't be baptized until they are old enough to understand what is going on. I believe young children should be dedicated to the Lord.

Answer 8

You can't know - but neither could you if you had them baptized in church.

You can't judge by anyone else's judgment than your own.

If you ask me, a blessing from my human mother and mother nature would be better than one from some institution, anyway.

Answer 9

Rain from heaven is not blessed, just polluted.

Answer 10

That sounds like a beautiful ritual of blessing. :-)