Not that this matters too much, but the baptism will be in a small Episcopal Church that we attend. The priest is quite liberal-thinking. The ages of the parishoners run the gamut. GrizzWife was raised Episcopal and I was raised Methodist.
We are providing the flowers for the services for that day.
I believe that there is also an understanding that we should provide some honorarium or tithe to the church for providing the baptism, but I’m at a loss as to what the amount should be. $25? $50?
I’ve asked family, but they’re no help. I don’t want to ask the church members, secretary or priest.
Does anyone have experience with this? What’s a proper amount?
Or it oughta be. Sheesh. :rolleyes: I’ve never heard of honorariums for baptisms. Weddings, yes, but baptisms, no. It’s because entering the Kingdom of God ought to be “no charge”.
But hey, I’m just a Fightin’ Fundie. No doubt the EpiscoPAYLEeians do this a tad different.
Grizz, Welcome To The . . CHURCH. Glad to see you have joined . .
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US. Just remember, you can join, but you can never leave . . .
But seriously, Ladies and Germs . .
I got baptized Episcopalan 2 years ago (kick ass church, if I may be so denominational, very tolerant but with all the Catholic ceremony so you won’t feel that guilty about it). I remember paying a $65 honorarium for our wedding, but El Zilcho for the dunking.
I’m going to check with Mrs. Virginslayer, but from what I remember, we made sure a thank you card was mailed to the priest who conducted the ceremony and to the priest who ran my “How to Be a Good Episcopalian” clasees.
I’ll update you if Missus Slayer tells me different.
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Brother . . .
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Makes you think you made the right choice, huh?
What’ll it cost? Let’s see, how about your old life? your sins? Somehow, though, I don’t think you’ll miss 'em much. At my church, it was free. I didn’t “Take the Plunge” until I was thirty-six, so it isn’t just a freebies for babies thing. By the way, that’s Baptist Union of Western Canada, so maybe other churchs are different.
OK, so I made up the part about the drachmas. But the point is, I’ve never heard of a fee (or an “honorarium,” if we’re going to use euphemisms) for baptism.
I say, keep a $50 in your pocket on the off chance that your priest (or whatever he/she is called) brings it up.
Mrs. Bricker and I attended a class on baptism for our soon-to-be-born Bricker Jr. No mention of a fee was made. This is Roman Catholic, mind you.
Moreover, the Code of Canon Law, Can. 843 §1, says very clearly:
All that said, there’s nothing in the world wrong with dropping $50 on the church, or even personally on the priest, who provides an elaborate ceremony, makes himself and the facilities available for photos, etc etc. In much the same way, attending Mass is free… but there’s nothing wrong with dropping a ten spot in the collection basket when it comes your way. You don’t have to, but it’s a nice gesture.
Baptism is baptism, Grizz, no matter whether it’s an infant or an adult (setting aside the quibble over the whole issue and theology of “infant baptism”.)
It symbolizes entry into the Family of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. You’re Joining the Club, and we’re so happy to have you (“come one, come all”) that we don’t even charge you an admission fee.
If this is really a problem for you, I suggest you just bite the bullet and ask the church secretary.
When little Lisa Marie was baptized in our local Catholic church, we were ready to give, I think, a hundred bucks.
Then, this is the truth I swear, the priest was drunk and ranted at the crowd (they were baptizing 4 babies in the same service) that baptism is a serious thing and too many people take it lightly and have their child baptized even though they are not committed to properly raising the child as a catholic.
My hundred bucks stayed in my pocket and it was never mentioned.
We have since started going to the Methodist church, where nobody has ranted at me yet…
I’m Episcopalian(now), was ELCA Lutheran before that, and was raised LC-MS Lutheran. The latter is VERY conservative. In none of these, or any Christian denomination, have I ever heard of a Bapismal fee.
BTW, when I was taking classes before I became an Episcopalian, Father Tiller said “Being Episcopalian means you don’t have to check you brains at the door.”
Administering the sacraments is the priest’s JOB. He is already paid for it. The reason you provide an honorarium for weddings is that he/she has altered his schedule to suit you.
I’m an Episcopal priest and I’ve never served a parish that required a fee for baptising someone. At times families having a baptism will pay for the flowers in the church, but that’s more an expression of their celebration and it’s NEVER presented as something that’s expected.
If you’re inviting a clergyperson to come from a long distance away to preside at a baptism or some other sort of service it’s nice to offer to reimburse travel expenses. Feeding us is good, too.
The only exception to the “get baptised for free” rule might be if the baptism needed to be scheduled for a time when the facility wasn’t normally in use and the cost of running air conditioning or bringing in a cleanup crew might need to be covered.
