Normally me announcing this event on this board would be a cause for consternation.....except he and my 3 grandchildren were baptized into the Lutheran Church! His wife was already baptized. I was there....didn't want to be really. I really truly hate going into a church. Organized religion is f'king garbage but at least he ain't a Mormon!

Ron Burr

Well, I know a lot of Lutherans and none of them are very die-hard, so, . . . best!

At least it is not TSCC is right. Things could be so much worse!

And baptism in a Lutheran church is not actually baptism "into" the Lutheran church - it is baptism into Christ's family. That baptism will be recognized by other protestant churches. Just trying to point out that the baptism is for the benefit of the individual desiring it, not for the benefit of an organization. He is not being assigned a world-wide recognized membership number, he will not be hounded for 10% of his income, he can give as he feels, he will not have unannounced visits from other members. He can serve as he wants, and can even leave the congregation if he wants and his friends will still be his friends.

And if in the future he feels the need to confess anything to his preacher, the matter will die right there as it should and not be fodder for Ward council.

As a former Lutheran, an adult baptism is simply a public declaration of an inner, personal faith. Nothing magical happens.

When a Lutheran baptizes their child, it is a statement that the child will be raised in the Christian faith. The congregation makes a reciprocal commitment to support the family as part of their larger church family of Christian believers.

ELCA congregations are pretty relaxed. They decided a few years ago to ordain gay clergy.

Congrats to him, thats awesome!

of casseroles.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2013 03:52PM by iflewover.

Geez, you scared me.

Another thing is that the service times are posted outside, and he can actually chose which time to go to church, instead of being told when he's going. He can even chose to skip a week, and nobody will show up at his door finding out why he wasn't at church. He can even decide that another Protestant denomination is a better fit, and his friends will respect that and remain friends.

You are BAPTIZED as a Christian into the holy catholic (with a small c and translates to universal Christian) church. You JOIN the Lutheran Church. Big difference.

I am a member of an ELCA church. I was baptized in a roman Catholic as an infant and I joined the Lutheran church, my baptism was recognized "ONE baptizm for the forgiveness of sins"). My grandchildren were baptized in the same Lutheran church and became membersof this church through this baptizm.

Just a note to add that the Roman Catholic church recognizes most baptisms, including Luteran. As stated in an earlier comment, Christian baptism represents membership in the body of Christ. In other words, if you are baptized in the Lutheran or Methodist or Episcopal, etc, etc, traditions, your baptism is perceived as valid by the RC. Not Mormon baptisms however

Mormonism does not recognize other baptisms and other churches don't recognize mormon baptisms. I'm lucky. I was baptized before joining moism so my prior baptism is recognized elsewhere.