Baptism Question

[mannygalvezarnedo]

A family members moved out from other wards and move into our wards, But the two children ages 14 & 12 was baptized from other wards for more than 5 years ago, without membership records and recording baptismal & confirmation. How could I handle this case.

[jdlessley]

See Handbook 1, 16.1.10.1.

[jonesrk]

Also you may want to try requesting the children's records individually in case they were not correctly in the household.

[brookekolste]

We have a situation like this in our ward. Our bishop checked with the Stake President and the Stake President won't give permission for the child to be baptized outside the stake boundaries. ??? Please help me find the specific wording in the handbook that I can take to the bishop so we can make this happen.

[russellhltn]

Please help me find the specific wording in the handbook that I can take to the bishop so we can make this happen.

While I know it's done, I'm not finding any verbiage in the Handbook that allows it. Certainly nothing strong enough to convince someone who has made up their mind. It would be easier for me to claim it has to be done in the ward where the records reside, not just the same stake.

The best I can do to help you is point to 38.2.3: "The bishop may authorize the streaming of baby blessings, baptisms, confirmations, and Aaronic Priesthood ordinations."

[larsynielsonjr]

Your Bishop and stake president are giving the right council according to the handbook of instruction

The bishop holds holds the keys and that is why he must be there to oversee the ordinance

18.7.2

When a child of record is preparing to be baptized, a member of the bishopric and Primary presidency counsel with the family to plan and schedule a baptismal service. A member of the bishopric conducts the service.

[BrianEdwards]

This type of discussion took place recently in another thread, where discussion was about wards whose buildings are officially inside another stake's boundaries, and where does the Bishop's stewardship end (could he perform a wedding in his ward's church building even if it was outside his stake?). In that case it was suggested that it was more of a spiritual stewardship in question, rather than a geographical physical line that could not be crossed. For example, in a previous calling I did a virtual temple recommend interview with a unit member who was temporarily in other country, and that was just fine. It would be an interesting discussion to see whether the Bishopric member might be approved to virtually preside for a specifically approved situation like this.

I also personally feel this is a bit different when considering cases where it's still a "local" ordinance (like in Provo Utah where you can easily cross over multiple stake boundaries while on a relaxing walk with your dog), as compared to cases where a family is away from home and wants to perform the baptism while away. But that's just me. And it's also challenging to distinguish between what was previously done (whether it was Handbook approved or just tradition), and what is currently official policy.

Given the previous posts about current Handbook policy and the different ways it can be interpreted or understood, I think that (fortunately? unfortunately?) the local leaders ultimately have discretion. If you've talked with your Bishop and he's talked with the Stake President and they conclude that they don't give permission, you can still see if a further discussion with the Stake President might clear up concerns. But if the answer remains "no", I agree that even if valid reasons exist for wanting to perform the baptism elsewhere, the decision is not for individual members to make themselves.