Baptism is a wonderful time, when through water and the Word, God makes us his own. Jesus said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5, KJV).

Likewise he commanded us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19, NIV) and has promised “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16a, NIV) Those are some powerful words of Jesus and a great source of comfort to us; knowing that in our Baptism, God claims us as his children.

In Acts 2:38 we read; “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Baptism then is a means by which God confers his grace on us; it is his gift to us. Therefore baptism is for all people and all ages. Parents bring their children to God’s church to be baptized trusting and believing in God’s promise of forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Adults who were not baptized as children come to be baptized to receive the same assurance of forgiveness and the gift of God’s Spirit. We also discover from the early church that baptisms were a public event in which the whole family of God celebrated with the person being baptized.

From this biblical foundation, Gloria Dei has established a policy for baptisms. We are blessed as a congregation to have a large number of infants and children baptized every year and a good number of adults. In order for us to gracefully accommodate these baptisms, please review the policy below.

Baptism Policy of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church

1. Baptisms can be scheduled during non-communion worship services.

2. They may be scheduled in the Sanctuary on the second, fourth and fifth Sundays of each month and in the Family Life Center on the Saturday corresponding with the first, third and fifth Sundays of each month.

3. At this time there is no limit to the number of children or families that can be scheduled for baptisms, which means that your child’s baptism may not be the only one scheduled for that service.

4. Baptisms are schedule 2 ½ weeks (at least 19 days) in advance. The cut off, before advancing to the next weekend, is Wednesday at noon.

5. Ordinarily baptisms are performed at one of the worship services so that the whole family of God may celebrate with the person being baptized. If the family desires a private baptism, it may be scheduled at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday or at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday.

6. Baptisms are performed by one of the pastors of Gloria Dei since they are given the responsibly for the person’s spiritual care. There may be a special circumstance when the family would like to invite outside clergy to officiate, the clergy must contact the Senior Pastor in regards to the baptism, before the date can be set.

7. Due to the amount of information needed when scheduling a baptism, please plan at least 10 minutes when you call the office or you may fill out a baptism request form online and e-mail it to the church office. The staff member assigned to schedule baptisms will then call you within 24 hours to verify all the details.

Baptism of Member’s Children at other churches

In the event that a child is baptized at another church, please have the church send a letter to Gloria Dei, so we can add this information to the family’s membership records.

Schedule a Baptism today.

Schedule a Baptism today by filling out the baptism form. If you have any questions concerning scheduling a baptism, contact Diane Schmidt.

More about Baptism

We have a wonderful booklet that will explain more about baptism. Click here to download it.

For further questions concerning Baptism, contact Pastor Robarge.