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A message regarding Holy Baptism from our former rector, Father John Elledge:
Have you ever heard new parents discuss “having the baby done?” I used to hear it fairly regularly. After a new baby joined the family, the happy parents would, of course, do the socially “right thing to do” — have the baby, as they often said, “christened.”
 Thirty or more years ago, the Episcopal Church, like many others, including the Roman Catholics and Lutherans, rethought much of our worship practice. Thorough, scholarly works were produced on various subjects, including Holy Baptism. The outcome was a renewed baptismal rite reflecting the understandings contained in scripture and in the practice of the early church. The opening sentences in the rubrics introducing the rite sum up our understanding succinctly — “Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church. The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble. Holy Baptism is appropriately administered within the Eucharist as the chief service on a Sunday or other feast.”
At Saint John’s, unless there is some dire pressing need such as serious illness, we do not practice private baptism — either of infants or adults. We agree in part with those churches that practice adult only baptism. The norm for Holy Baptism is for adults. That is the New Testament pattern. However, in the early church, when the head of a family was converted, the whole family was baptized, including infants. As the early Christians did not heed St. Paul’s advice to remain celibate and romantic love prevailed, they continued to marry and have children. Those children were then baptized, too, thus beginning the practice of infant baptism which has lasted almost two millennia now.
 If you or a member of your family desires to be baptized, or if you have a child to be baptized, please contact the Rector or the church secretary. We will need information for our records, such as when and where the person was born. When we baptize an adult, we instruct that person in the basics of Christianity and join in conversation to assure the person has a good foundation upon which to grow in Christ. For an infant, we instruct the parents, since they are the primary persons who will be responsible for seeing that the child they present learns about Christ and grows up to know herself or himself to be a committed Christian. At some appropriate time after one is baptized, there is an expectation that they will present themselves to the Bishop for prayer and laying-on-of-hands in the rite of Confirmation.
Baptism is not a magic act, nor a “get out of hell free card.” It is a sacred covenant between God, the person(s) being baptized, and the community of faith — the Church. Holy Baptism is the beginning of a life in Christ. It requires daily follow up. Christian devotion, study, and community are part and parcel of follow Christ, being his disciple, and growing in the Spirit. There is no point in being baptized if the person or, in the case of a child, his parents know that there will be limited effort put into discipleship afterwards.
We at St. John’s love to celebrate baptisms of young and old. We invite you to become a disciple within our particular portion of the Body of Christ. We hope we shall be a blessing to you and you a blessing to us. We know God wishes to bless us all.
-Father John
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St. John's is located at:
114 North Union Avenue Havre de Grace, MD 21078
Tel: (410) 939-2107
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