Christianity – Festivals and Observances
Baptism – The Universal right of initiation
• Baptism is the religious process of covering or sprinkling people with water.
• Jesus was also baptized by John the Baptist and commanded his followers to also baptize.
• The process is done to release people's sins and receive the gift of god. It also symbolizes a new Christian joining the new covenant. Baptism also symbolizes the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Process of Baptism (Immersion into water)
1. The rite starts with a group prayer which asks God to show them the right path.
2. The person being baptized stands, kneels or sits in clean water that can be located anywhere (bath tub, swimming pool, lakes on rivers).
3. The person being baptized prays silently saying that Jesus can save them and also remembering their sins. (Takes from 10 seconds to a minute)
4. The person then says to everyone there, "I accept Jesus as my Savior and Lord."
5. The person doing the baptizing lowers the other person's body into the water while saying, "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
(The person being baptized needs to be in the water for only 2 or 3 seconds).
• There are many variations in the process of baptism and the person on whom the baptism is being performed on.
• Almost every Christian church baptizes but do so in two different ways.
• The Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed, and Roman Catholic churches perform baptism by pouring or sprinkling water over the person.
• In Eastern Orthodox churches, the person is to be immersed in water.
• All of the above churches perform baptism on infants because they think it does not matter if the child is aware of what is happening. Since they believe Baptism gives God's grace, it can also be performed on infants.
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