Baptism
Congratulations on the birth of your child, and thank you for choosing the Catholic Community of South Baltimore as the parish for your child's baptism. We welcome your family to our community!
Once you have completed our baptism registration form, we will walk you through the process of scheduling and preparing for your baptism. Our church family would love to celebrate this special day with your family so we invite you to celebrate at one of our regularly scheduled weekend Masses. If for some reason that is not possible, we can work to find another time.
Choosing Godparents
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The Church invites the candidate for Baptism to be presented by one or two sponsors, often called godparents The Church’s sacraments are always celebrated in the context of faith. When the candidate for Baptism is too young to understand that faith, it is the faith of the parents and godparents that is essential for the proper reception of the sacrament. The role of sponsor is to be a model of the faith that the Baptism candidate will embrace and practice as he or she grows in understanding. Obviously, as in any organization, one cannot sponsor someone for “membership”, unless sponsor is a full member in good standing. As such the sponsor ( godparent) is attesting to his or her own practice of the faith in accepting this role and are accepting the responsibility to encourage and support the candidate in his/her practice of the faith. A sponsor for Baptism must be someone other than a parent of the Candidate. If two sponsors they need to represent both genders. If only one sponsor (which is permissible) the sponsor may be either gender. The sponsor must be fully initiated in the Catholic Church, that is, received the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation and has reached the age of 16. If married, the sponsor must be a marriage recognized by the Church. (C. 873-874).
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The Catholic Church requires that only one sponsor be a Catholic. If you choose two sponsors, one may be a non Catholic but must be a Christian. A Christian witness must be a baptized person of good moral character who strives to live up to the values of the Gospel and adheres to the tenets of their own Christian faith. This person must be baptized in a Christian faith whose baptism is recognized and accepted by the Catholic Church. This includes most of the “main line” Christian Churches (Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist). It does not include Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, or The Salvation Army. Also, those who are non-Christians (Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc.) may not stand as Christian witnesses.
If you have any questions about godparents, please contact Fr. Kevin Ewing at kevin.ewing@archbalt.org.
Please read the above sections about choosing a godparent, then have those you have chosen to be sponsors complete one of the forms below and return to the parish office (110 E West St., Baltimore MD 21230).
Baptism Preparation Session
The parish connects new parents with other families in the parish to prepare them for the celebration of the sacrament. We hold Baptism Prep sessions typically on the first Sunday of the month after 9am Mass at Holy Cross. This is a requirement to attend one time before your child is baptized. You may attend when you are pregnant or when the baby has arrived but before the baptism is scheduled.
To sign up for a Baptism Prep session, or inquire about the next date(s), email Beth Mayr at beth.mayr@archbalt.org.
We ask that both parents attend the Baptism Prep. If your child’s godparents would like to come, they are more than welcome (though that is not a requirement).
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If your baptism is elsewhere but you were asked to complete a baptism prep at CCSB, please still complete the baptism registration above, and put in the comments details about completing prep here but the baptism elsewhere, etc. This registration forms helps us to best track all paperwork and meetings for baptisms and baptism prep!
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If you are asked to be a godparent at another parish, and that parish requires you complete a Baptism Prep course with us, please email Beth Mayr at beth.mayr@archbalt.org to sign up for the next session.
If you are a registered parishioner of the Catholic Community of South Baltimore, who has been asked to act as a godparent for a friend or family member's child, please use the form below to request a godparent sponsorship letter.
The purpose of this letter is to confirm for the church that will be performing the baptism that you are a practicing Catholic, who has received the three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation and are validly married. If you have any questions about the form, or about the roles and responsibilities of a godparent, please contact the Pastor, Fr. Kevin Ewing at kevin.ewing@archbalt.org.