No, that’s OK. That’s not a rant, that’s just an honest reaction to what sounds like a very irksome imposition on the part of the parish.
Plus, I hadn’t thought of Baptism classes happening after the baby is born, thus delaying the baptism by weeks or months. I’d thought maybe the classes were offered for expectant couples.
If somebody had insisted on delaying my newborn son’s baptism in this way, I’m pretty sure I would
have baptized him myself.
How annoying and uncaring that is, seriously.
Baptism is the one (at least out of the two-and-a-half Sacraments for us Lutherans) Sacrament that you DON’T need instruction for. I mean, seriously, if baptismal faith is a gift from God and not an intellectual work, why?
If it was an adult convert, I’d probably want to educate someone before baptism unless they were insistent on getting it RIGHT NOW, but for a baby? There’s no reason to wait unless they’re deathly allergic to water or something!
In our parish, it’s a one hour one night class, which is usually done before the child arrives. They don’t come all that suddenly.
you only have to go to classes on your first child’s baptism, apparently some parishes are different.