Easter Baby Quandry

Alright Methoblogosphere: here's a pastoral, doctrinal, puzzle to help me solve: I have one young woman who indicated on her attendance registry that she was interested in joining the church and desired a pastoral call. (Yes, check marks in those particular boxes are rare in my experience) When I called her back the following week, she said she was interested in joining the church and having her daughter baptized on Easter. I was glad. Easter always seems more "Easter-y" when I get to celebrate a baptism. I told her I'd send her a copy of the baptismal vows that she would be taking on behalf of her daughter, and a copy of the paragraphs from the discipline related to church membership. (216-221--don't worry, I simplify the procedural points of 221) I explained to her that they were in a sense the "covenant" that the church makes with her to support her in faith and love and in return receive her support, service, presence, and gifts. So, all is golden. We're receiving new members on Easter and we haven't received any new members since August. Great.

Okay: Today I get a call. Another young couple who has a foot in our church and a foot in the Baptist church (female grew up in our church, husband grew up as a Baptist preacher's kid, she’s actually been baptized over there in addition to her baptism in our church). They want to have their baby "dedicated" on Easter Sunday as well at our church. I set up an appointment to speak with them tomorrow. I had previously (a month or two ago) told them that if they’d like, we have a service of celebration of a new birth in our Book of Worship, so this is where they’re getting the idea of “dedicating their baby.”

My concern is…does it confuse the issue or undermine the importance of the baptism already scheduled on Easter Sunday to have that “celebration” (basically consisting of an address by the pastor, standing the family up in front of the church, and a response from the church) on that same morning? What I’d probably do is have the celebration toward the beginning, and then the baptism as the culmination of the service after the sermon during the “response to the word.” But perhaps it'd be better just to ask them to choose another date. I don't know, I don't want to seem difficult or obstinate to them. I want to be welcoming and receptive to them, but also convey the beauty and meaning of our tradition. I don't want to be cheap and wishy washy, but I also don't want to be hard-nosed and insensitive to a family wishing to share the joy of a new birth in a way that's palatable to both parents.

When I speak to the family tomorrow, I think I’m going to let them know that I’d prefer to baptize the child and talk with them about their understanding of baptism and what our church says about baptism. (Using “by water and the spirit” as a guide) My understanding is that infant baptism is our dedication of the child as well as the recognition of God’s grace working in the child. Not something that we initiate, but something God has initiated and that we respond to through the gift of that sacrament and then continue to respond to through a profession of faith and a striving toward perfection.

But I’ll also mention the service of celebration of a new birth and let them know that we could do that if they are resolute in their decision not to have the child baptized. Want to help me navigate this minefield?