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Our sweet Olivia was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this past weekend and it was so special and peaceful! She is pure sweetness and love! The day was that and more! I have so much I want to share about that day and also want to share some planning and prep that I found so helpful as well. This was my first time planning a baptism so in case it’s yours too or if you have a baptism in the future here are some things to consider!
Our Stake had a baptism preview for everyone that was getting baptized that calendar year at the starting of the year. They talked about all the details of the baptism and specifics, I loved that our Stake did this! Hopefully yours does too! If not reach out to your Primary President a year in advance, if possible, of your child’s baptism to start planning. There is a lot of moving parts in a baptism that require lots of people and planning. At the very least 3-6 months! I’m a planner so I’m sure you can do it in less time so know that, but to fellow planners that’s my advice 🙂
Some of the information they went over was:
Baptismal Clothing-When to pick up baptismal clothing for the child being baptized and the person performing baptism (if you’re using your own clothing you should let your Primary President know-I found a cute option HERE, if I would’ve found it before I would’ve got that for Liv). Wear your white baptismal clothing on Saturday to your baptism. Be sure to wear white underwear underneath the baptismal clothing. You might not notice the color when the jumpsuit is dry but once it gets wet the colored underwear will show so make sure to wear white underwear!
What to bring:
Personal Items-clean towel and change of underwear with your Sunday clothing to change into after the baptismal ceremony. Dry bag (I used an old plastic grocery bag we could toss after the baptism for her underwear and a beach bag we could wash for everything else.)
For us we found out they would have a hamper in the restroom that was attached to the font, and that the Stake clothing coordinator would launder and return the clothing to the stake center. Obviously you need to take your own underwear and towel home, that’s where the plastic grocery bag and beach towel comes in!)
Program
We were able to arrange the entire program in full. I know this isn’t always the case, so be sure to reach out to your primary president. Which included: Invites, program, talks, prayers, songs, chorister, pianist, witnesses, confirmation individuals, etc.) To fill our program we were encouraged to ask family members, friends, and loved ones to do/prepare parts for the baptism program. Templates can be found and purchased on Etsy, Pinterest, Canva etc. I got this Baptism Bundle on Etsy HERE that made it SO easy and I loved that all the signage matched!
Talks-The talks should be limited to 5 minutes max, and remember to speak directly to the child. I have a really cute baptism talk idea HERE if you need some inspo! We were also directed to focus talks on Christ and the covenant of baptism, the role of the Holy Ghost being a comforter, teacher and revelatory, and the renewal of the baptismal covenants when we partake of the sacrament.
The program as a whole should not last longer than 45-50 minutes due to other baptisms being in the next hour time slot. We didn’t have Liv’s on the Stake Baptism day so didn’t have another baptism right after ours, but still wanted to keep this schedule. There really isn’t a need to have it go longer!
The font can’t be left unattended between baptisms.
Family Gatherings-This was a tricky one for us. Everyone was instructed to not have gatherings after baptisms in the Stake Center. Our usual building is the Stake Center, so we had to find and schedule another building. Getting keys, scheduling and everything else was quite the process so definitely something to think about before if you don’t have space for the gathering somewhere else!
Program Details-We were told we’d be informed of who would be conducting closer to the scheduled baptism date, this is important because you need to have it on the printed program! Along with the outline they gave us, I loved that the baptism bundle I got on Etsy already had it all filled out I just needed to add in my specific names and customize it. The outline of the Program goes as follows:
-Conducting -Bishop or Counselor conducts
-Chorister
-Pianist
-Opening Hymn or Primary Song
-Invocation/Opening Prayer
-Talk on Baptism
-Baptism Ceremony preformed (While clothing is being changed quiet music should be played or sung. Or have a special musical number done, or play a church approved video.-While Liv was changing I had a video being played of pictures from when she was born to now 8 years old, with church music downloaded directly from the LDS app on it. Make sure to approved it with your Bishopric and test it before so you know it will play well on the TV at the church, you might need some troubleshooting! I also asked our pianist to play the piano longer if we were still changing after the video until we got out.) After Olivia was dressed she had a special music number of When I Am Baptized at the piano, she was a little nervous so her cute piano teacher, Renon Bryce accompanied her and it was so adorable!
-Talk on Holy Ghost
-Confirmation ceremony is performed.
-Bishopric Remarks
-Closing Hymn/Primary Song
-Benediction/Closing Prayer
Day of Baptism
Arrive early! We arrived 40 minutes early on our non stake baptism day! haha which would be too early for Stake baptism day, they told us 10 minutes but to each their own. We had to get the TV, set up the video we were playing, set up the table with programs and a few little decorations. I also wanted to be settled before guests arrived.
Remind everyone to be reverent so as to not disturb the sacred nature of the baptismal service in progress. With that instruction, we also know how excited you can be full of the Spirit and love! We were so grateful to have family and friends join us for this special day!
If you take anything from this reach out to your Primary President about a year in advance if possible and start planning early, if not start thinking of things in this post! Each stake is different I’ve learned, with how they handle baptisms so the specifics could be different for you. It all falls into place and works out so well!
