How to Record a Baptism in a Church

A baptism at a church is recorded meticulously.

Most churches practice some form of what is called "baptism." Although the word, comes from the Greek word "baptizo," which means to dip, immerse or plunge, some churches practice sprinkling or pouring as their preferred method of baptism. Regardless of the meaning behind the baptism or the form used, most churches keep records of those individuals who are baptized. Records like these can end up playing an important part in legal matters that require background information on individuals.

Instructions

1. Gather pertinent information about the person being baptized. If the church you are a part of practices infant baptism, this information will include the date of birth, the names of both parents, the given and, if applicable, the Christian name of the infant. If your church practices New Testament baptism (immersion) of adults, you will also need dates of birth, maiden names and married names of female converts and contact information for the baptized individual. This information is used to generate a baptismal certificate to give to the convert and to keep on file within the church.

2. Send detailed forms to the denominational headquarters. While some churches use different terms for their denominational headquarters, the statistics of new baptisms are added to the records for that particular denomination and are used to measure church growth. Often, this information is used to send new converts information about the church and to add them to a list of donors for the financial needs of that denomination.

3. Send summary forms to local denominational organizations. Many churches have local denominational headquarters as well as national organizations. In some instances, records of new baptisms are sent to the local headquarters and forwarded to the national. It depends on the makeup of your particular church leadership.

4. Contact the individual in the church membership who is in charge of discipleship and let that person know about the baptism so that the process of teaching the new convert can take place. Barna's statistics on new converts state that most new converts leave the church within eight to 12 weeks if they are not contacted and taught how to continue growing in the church.

References

• Diocese of Brooklyn: Sacramental Records
• Holy Presence Deland
• Dochara: Roots: Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials