More Baptism Questions . . .

[RadioFanatic]

As you may have read, my DS is being baptised. My dh and I were planning to give more in the offertory that week for the church, but my DM advised me that I also need to give a gift to the individual conducting the baptism as well. Is this true? Not sure if if matters, but my DM is catholic and we're Episcopalian. Also, did you give gifts to the godparents?

 

[MandM-Mom]

Yes we gave the priest a monetary donation and also a donation to the church when all 3 of my DD's got christened. We did the same as when we got married. We also gave our Godparents a nice frame of sort with a spot for a picture that we would take at the baptism....the one we got youngest DD's godparents had a little poem and then a spot for a picture, I picked it up at Hallmark I think.

 

[las3888]

DH actually asked our minister if it was appropriate to give a gift to the minister ( ) and she handled it cooly and said that if wanted to give a gift it was appropritate to give it to the church. That didn't totally answer our question..maybe we should have given our donation to her, but we did end up giving it to the church.

Gee, I don't remember giving anything to the Godparents, but then again, it was my sister and bro-in-law, and as their Godparent, I don't remember receiving anything either. A token gesture type gift is nice though...

Good luck and congrats!

 

[Wendybird55]

When my son was baptized we gave an extra donation to the church (plus the church also got donations from our relatives attending the service) and then we gave a seperate "tip" to the pastor and we also invited the pastor and his wife to join us at the restaurant for our celebration afterwards (this is the church we joined and current members of). We are Luthern and the baptism was part of the regualr Sunday service. My SIL is Cathoilic and when her children were baptized it was a seperate service just for all babtisms that month. Pkus my DH being the Godfather of one of her children had to pay the church a fee fo the baptism (around $50 I think).

In addtion to a small favor or everyone who went to the restaurant (we kept it small - immediate family and Godparents only) I also got a special gift for each Godparent.

 

[DawnM]

I had no idea!

We don't give anything in the Protestant church for baptisms.

Dawn

 

[MrsPooh]

We always gave an extra donation to the church and a seperate to the priest performing the Baptism. The priest can choose to donate it also to the church or to use it for personal needs. (at our wedding we did both, plus extra for the organist and the servers).

In our family these monetary donations are usually covered by the Godfather for a Baptism. At my nephew's Baptism I was the Godmother and the Godfather was not Catholic and had no way of knowing this. My sister didn't think of this but I brought the money along and took care of it myself.

We've never done gifts for the Godparents but maybe that is just my family.

I do not think the priest would be offended if you cannot afford it but it is a nice thing to do if possible.

 

[megthewonderful]

We gave an extra donation to the church when each of my children were baptised. The priest would not accept anything from us, but we did find nice religious thank you cards from Hallmark that we did send to him afterwards. Just like in previous threads, we found nice frames for the godparents and send them pictures afterwards. We also took immeidate family out to each after the ceremony.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

our children were baptized by our dear friend who gave us the gift of baptism. So I don't know what to tell you. We are Episcopalian also. Have you hugged an episcopalian today...

 

[emh1129]

We've always just given a donation to the church. I never thought about one for the priest as well. Hmm.
Our dd is being baptized on the 15th.

 

[mommytobug]

This is interesting to me. I have friends who I have attended baptisms for their children but I had no idea that special donations, etc were made. We are Baptist so our children decide when they accept Christ as their Saviour and then they are baptized. We do not pay the pastor or give special donations. Isn't it interesting how everyone is different?

 

[Luv Bunnies]

At our Catholic church, Baptisms are done in separate ceremonies and not as part of the regular Sunday mass. The literature we received when preparing for the Baptism said it's customary to compensate the priest for his time. The suggested amount was $50.

 

[Villainess]

When I baptized my children, I made a donation to the church and an additional monetary offering to the deacon who performed the celebration. They were also invited to the reception following. The same was done for my wedding - gift to the church, to the priest, to the vocalist, and the organist.

 

[kjetjl]

We've had our 6 children baptized in 4 different Catholic churches (we moved a lot). Each was different. I have never heard of the Godfather paying. I wonder if that is a family or local custom? At each Baptism, we have given the priest/deacon a small donation of thanks. Some churches gave a suggested amount because a lot of people ask how much is appropriate; at one church nothing was mentioned until we asked and we were told that any thank you would be appreciated by the priest but it was not necessary. I think it varies, and depends on the parish. I do not think any priest (none I know) would accept a donation from any family whom he knew was going through financial difficulty.

 

[beccasmom]

We are Catholic and my brother is a priest. Most churches have a "suggested" offering for weddings, baptisms, etc. and it is customary to give the priest at least that amount. Some of the money goes to the church and some goes to the celebrant. You can always call and ask the church secretary what the fees are.

 

[stopher1]

We are Catholic and my brother is a priest. Most churches have a "suggested" offering for weddings, baptisms, etc. and it is customary to give the priest at least that amount. Some of the money goes to the church and some goes to the celebrant. You can always call and ask the church secretary what the fees are.

It really depends on the denomination, I guess. We're members of an independent Christian Church (3 different ones now in 3 different states), and there's never been anything like that for baptism...but then like the one PP who's a Baptist mentioned, baptism in our movement isn't done for little children by the parents, rather it's a personal decision by the individual when they are old enough to understand the commitment they are making to following Christ. I baptized both of my sons about 3 years ago during a regularly scheduled Sunday service... along with several others who came forward that day to accept Christ and be baptized... so if I were to make a donation, I guess I could make it to myself? Kidding. Not to disrepect anyone else's thoughts on this topic, or their particular practice. It's nice to see a respectful dialog taking place on it, and to learn about what other denominations do or encourage...

 

[trcckdarby]

priests do not make much $. so we have always given $ to the priest, they are not in their vocation for the $ so it is not expected but it is appreciated.

 

[MickeyP]

Always give the priest $$. He can then do with it what he wants. Priests make such a small amt. and is so appreciated. And while we're on it, it's proper for the Godparents to pay (they don't always, but should) and when they don't, the parents should. Priests should also be paid for weddings and funerals (One of our priests was paid in leftover booze from a funeral ceremony..........and it didn't go over too well, as most would expect. I mean I'm sure he drank it, but he would've liked $$ better.

 

[DawnM]

I can see this kind of baptism being more like a wedding in that it is a ceremony for the child.

In our church there are several baptized at once (well, lined up and baptized one by one) and it is typically done during a service or our once a year picnic and baptism service.

For weddings, we do pay the pastor/minister, so it makes more sense if it is a separate kind of thing.

Dawn

We are Catholic and my brother is a priest. Most churches have a "suggested" offering for weddings, baptisms, etc. and it is customary to give the priest at least that amount. Some of the money goes to the church and some goes to the celebrant. You can always call and ask the church secretary what the fees are.

 

[tazdev3225]

I am also an Episcopalian and my priest said that he did not recieve any payment for his services as baptism is done during the body of the regular service and is a part of his duties as rector of the church. If a donation was given it would go into his discretionary fund. I have had 2 of my kids baptized in my church and all 5 grandkids and never paid a fee. When my DS was baptized in the Catholic church to please DH's family I not only didn't pay I tried to have him redone at my church. The priest was drunk and didn't even use the baptismal font, I was devastated.

 

[Disneylush]

I am a youth minister in a catholic church. It is not uncommon for a family to make a donation to a special church fund in honor of their childs baptism as well as giving a thank you note and sometimes a small gift card to the presider.

It is also not uncommon to not not use the baptismal font. A lot of times a bowl of water from the font will be brought to the front to be used for the baptism. (esp. if the font is in the back or on the side) Catholics do baptism by both dunking (full submersion) and sprinkling (pouring a small amount over the head)