Dear Listers

Anyone with examples of where a child was baptised at home or in any place other than the church?

Trying to understand how this might have occurred, and under what circumstances.

Warm regards

Dave Mitchell

Dave,
The norm was for a church baptism before the whole congregation. However if the child was very sickly and might not live (and too weak to take to church) it could be baptised at home.  For the RC church there was also the theological view (in the 1800s) that an unbaptised child would be left in limbo. So you might ask for a home baptism to avoid that, if the child seemed likely to die.

Elwyn
On Tuesday, 25 May 2021, 19:09:06 BST, dm60--- via CoTyroneList cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com wrote:

Dear Listers

Anyone with examples of where a child was baptised at home or in any place other than the church?

Trying to understand how this might have occurred, and under what circumstances.

Warm regards

Dave Mitchell

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I have also seen some instances where the infant was baptized in a hospital, and confirmed shortly thereafter, I assume because the child was near death.

I’ve also seen a lot of cases (most in the Ardboe area of Tyrone) where the child was baptized within 24 hours of birth. It seems unlikely that this would occur before the whole congregation as it included every day of the week, not just Sunday. As time passed, the duration between birth and baptism lengthened, likely due to reduced infant mortality rates. When my kids were baptized in the Catholic Church here in the US in the 1980s, it was not before the entire congregation; it was done on Sunday afternoon after regular Masses had been completed.

From: Elwyn Soutter via CoTyroneList cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2021 2:18 PM
To: cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com
Cc: Elwyn Soutter elwynsoutter@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] Re: Baptisms - elaewhere, not in the church

Dave,

The norm was for a church baptism before the whole congregation. However if the child was very sickly and might not live (and too weak to take to church) it could be baptised at home.  For the RC church there was also the theological view (in the 1800s) that an unbaptised child would be left in limbo. So you might ask for a home baptism to avoid that, if the child seemed likely to die.

Elwyn

On Tuesday, 25 May 2021, 19:09:06 BST, dm60--- via CoTyroneList <cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com mailto:cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com > wrote:

Dear Listers

Anyone with examples of where a child was baptised at home or in any place other than the church?

Trying to understand how this might have occurred, and under what circumstances.

Warm regards

Dave Mitchell

Send a Message to the List - cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com mailto:cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com

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Thanks everyone.

Working on the extra insights, looking at a specific instance in Donagheady in 1846 – trying to figure out the “hidden message” (if any).

Take care.

Warm regards

Dave Mitchell

From: Mary Jarvis via CoTyroneList cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com
Sent: 26 May 2021 12:43 AM
To: 'Elwyn Soutter' elwynsoutter@yahoo.co.uk; 'CoTyroneIreland.com Mailing List' cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com
Cc: mljarvis.74@gmail.com
Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] Re: Baptisms - elaewhere, not in the church

I have also seen some instances where the infant was baptized in a hospital, and confirmed shortly thereafter, I assume because the child was near death.

I’ve also seen a lot of cases (most in the Ardboe area of Tyrone) where the child was baptized within 24 hours of birth. It seems unlikely that this would occur before the whole congregation as it included every day of the week, not just Sunday. As time passed, the duration between birth and baptism lengthened, likely due to reduced infant mortality rates. When my kids were baptized in the Catholic Church here in the US in the 1980s, it was not before the entire congregation; it was done on Sunday afternoon after regular Masses had been completed.

From: Elwyn Soutter via CoTyroneList <cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com mailto:cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com >
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2021 2:18 PM
To: cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com mailto:cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com
Cc: Elwyn Soutter <elwynsoutter@yahoo.co.uk mailto:elwynsoutter@yahoo.co.uk >
Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] Re: Baptisms - elaewhere, not in the church

Dave,

The norm was for a church baptism before the whole congregation. However if the child was very sickly and might not live (and too weak to take to church) it could be baptised at home.  For the RC church there was also the theological view (in the 1800s) that an unbaptised child would be left in limbo. So you might ask for a home baptism to avoid that, if the child seemed likely to die.

Elwyn

On Tuesday, 25 May 2021, 19:09:06 BST, dm60--- via CoTyroneList <cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com mailto:cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com > wrote:

Dear Listers

Anyone with examples of where a child was baptised at home or in any place other than the church?

Trying to understand how this might have occurred, and under what circumstances.

Warm regards

Dave Mitchell

Send a Message to the List - cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com mailto:cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com

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Hello Dave,

I assume you are referring to Presbyterian baptisms?
Since some time in the nineteenth century, the practice of baptism within Presbyterian congregations has been to dispense the sacrament during the church service in the presence of the entire congregation.

However, this was not the way things were in the past. I refer to the autobiography of the Rev. Ross Stevenson, born Carrygullen, Strabane, Co. Tyrone, in 1814 and I quote “The old parson, Rev. J. Cannahan [Rev. Thomas Kernahan, minister of Douglas and Clady congregations], would come to our house to baptize the children about two weeks after birth; for even Presbyterians believed that there could be no hope for a child’s salvation if it died before being baptized”.

Then there is the instance of my 2xgreat grandmother Sarah Arbuckle, born Calhame, Strabane, Co. Tyrone, Dec. 12 1833 and baptised Dec. 24, the day of her mother’s death; under such circumstances, a baptism in the home is credible.

And in more recent times…………..in “A History of Ballindrait Church and Its People” by Belinda Mahaffy (2008) (Ballindrait is in Clonleigh parish, Co. Donegal across the Foyle from Strabane) the author writes of the long-serving minister, Rev. Dr. Bewglass “Until the mid-Fifties, baptism was a family sacrament which was carried in the presence of all the family at the family home and not in Ballindrait church as it is today.

And I guess there are further options if we should investigate further. All the best,
Len

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From: dm60--- via CoTyroneListmailto:cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com
Sent: Wednesday, 26 May 2021 4:09 AM
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Cc: dm60@mweb.co.zamailto:dm60@mweb.co.za
Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] Baptisms - elaewhere, not in the church

Dear Listers

Anyone with examples of where a child was baptised at home or in any place other than the church?

Trying to understand how this might have occurred, and under what circumstances.

Warm regards

Dave Mitchell

Send a Message to the List - cotyronelist@list.cotyroneireland.com
List Archive - https://list.cotyroneireland.com/empathy/list/cotyronelist.list.cotyroneireland.com
Join the list by sending an email to -  cotyronelist-subscribe@list.cotyroneireland.com
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