Baptismal Remembrance Sunday
Once a year in January we recognize our recently baptized children and their parents with a Baptismal Remembrance Ceremony during Sunday worship. During the Baptism Remembrance Liturgy we lift up and support parents of children who have been baptized but have not yet begun attending Sunday School. We remember the promises made at Baptism; promises to faithfully bring the child to the services of God’s house, to teach them the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments and to place in their hands the Holy Scriptures, and to provide for their instruction in the Christian faith. These are important promises, and they are not always easy to keep. Together the church family and the home family partner with and support each other in this important ministry.
On Sunday, January 9, 2011, bring your pre-Sunday School child who has been baptized with you to church. (Your child need not have been baptized at Bethel. All children baptized in the last three years are invited.) Following the Hymn of the Day, the children, their parents and sponsors (if available) will be invited to the Altar. Re-lighting of the Baptism candles, which you received on Baptism Day, will be part of this ceremony. (If you do not have one, we will provide candles for you to use that morning.) You who are parents and we who belong to your community of faith will commit ourselves anew to this important ministry of nurturing your children in the faith so that they may “be joined in God’s mission for the life of the world.” (ELW Baptism Liturgy)