Holy Baptism
The Sacrament of Holy Baptism is one of the two major sacraments in our church (the other is Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion). Holy Baptism takes place within the context of church community, and in the Episcopal Church, is only administered privately in the case of a life-threatening emergency. Our Book of Common Prayer sets aside special Sundays during the church year for baptisms: The Easter Vigil, the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of All Saints, and the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord. If necessary, other Sundays may be considered after conversation with the Rector. Adults, young people or babies may be baptized at St. Philip’s. The rector and a lay team meet with and prepare candidates, and their families and godparents, for this sacrament. In addition, this ministry sews individual banners to be used during the baptismal liturgy. If you have a new baby, and have not yet been to St. Philip’s, we usually encourage families to come and worship with us for a while before you get your child baptized. We do that holy sacrament within a community, and we all love baptisms, so the better we know you, the more we can support your family in this spiritual journey!
If you want to have your child baptized, please reach out to our staff to start a conversation on this topic and we will get you started. You can fill out a baptism request form and email it to admin@stphilipslaurel.org or mail it to the office.