THE GENERAL SYNOD OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH THE TRUSTEES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA THE UNITED SYNOD OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH 1 THE OCCASIONAL SERVICES ORDER FOR THE BAPTISM OF ¶ Baptism should be administered at a public Service. When circumstances demand, it may be administered privately, but public announcement thereof shall afterward be made. Parents are urged not to delay the baptism of their children. The names of the parents, of the sponsors, and of the child, with the date and place of birth and of baptism, shall be entered in the Record of the Congregation, and a proper certificate issued. ¶ Only members of the Church shall be accepted as sponsors. Baptism may be administered at any of the regular Services or at a specially appointed Service. When administered at The Service, the Order here given may follow the Creed or the General Prayer; when at Vespers, it may follow the Lessons or the Sermon; when at a specially appointed Service, the Order may be preceded by a Hymn. ¶The Minister may lay his hand on the head of the child during the repetition of the Lord's Prayer. ¶ The Minister shall say: N the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. D' EARLY Beloved: Forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin, and our Saviour Jesus Christ hath said, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God: I beseech you to call upon God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that of His goodness and mercy He will receive this child, by baptism, into the Church of the Redeemer, and make him a living member of the same. 5 |