Anyone Can be baptised

tim hooper

Does a new convert have to be approved for baptism by the elders or someone similar I wonder?

Years ago, at a circuit assembly, I came across a young man whose JW father had thrown him out of the family home because of his abusiveness. He'd got nowhere to go so he travelled south and finished up attending our local assembly. He'd been moved by what he heard at the baptism talk and spontaneously decided that he wanted to become a baptised witness. He joined the baptismal candidates, borrowed a costume and was duly baptised without anyone querying his motives. I have to say that he came across as being somewhat unstable.

Could such a thing happed today? Can anyone join the baptism candidates? Or is there some security in operation to ensure that only approved candidates can be dunked?

cofty

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The Searcher

Scripturally, anyone can be baptized by anyone, anywhere - you don't have to become a Witness. (Acts 2:38; 8:38)

However, in the Org, I think baptismal candidates are now strictly vetted, counted, and validated at assemblies and conventions. Which begs the question - if someone was sincerely repentant, (based on Acts 2:38) why bother trying to gatecrash an Org's baptism puddle; find your own where you don't have to pledge allegiance to Brooklyn.

galaxie

I love how the guy in the commentary says; she just HAD! to get in .He didn't consider that she may have taken that action to show what a mockery the whole thing is to common sense!.

NewYork44M

Tim, what you describe is what has bee recorded by youtube as the "pool jumper." I wonder if this person went through the questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erxXdGG6VfI

Phizzy

Do they really vet people now ?

I remember some years ago one of our Elders went and got re-baptized at a far away Assembly, nobody knew who he was or questioned him in those days 20 or 25 years ago. He felt his original baptism as a teenager was not really valid.

With all their petty rules and strict totalitarian type control today they would put someone off from doing this sincere thing that he did.

Goldiver

Back in 1982 when I was baptized there was a lengthy one on one session with an elder and alot of scripted questions which I had to answer correctly so they could be sure I was in line with thier thinking. If I could only go back in time.....

redvip2000

There are two different things here.

The elders do control who gets baptized, just in the same way they control who is a publisher, who is a pioneer, etc. You need to be vetted by the body of elders.

Now another thing is you decide you will bypass all of this and show up at a convention to be baptized. There is no roll call and no check in baptism station.

If you go to a convention and sit in the front row, stand up during the questions, follow everybody else to the dressing room, put a bathing suit on and get in line to the pool, you will probably get baptized. (unless they recently came up with a new procedure to keep control of that too)

Now if you get away with it, you go back to your congregation and this exercise will mean nothing because you have not been vetted.

Apognophos

Yes, I don't recall going through any kind of check immediately before my baptism in the '90s, like a brother looking for my name on a clipboard or something. But as redvip2000 explained, without the elders having gone through the questions with me in the preceding months, it would not have counted.

Dutchdelight

About fifteen years ago there's was a guy who's wife was a jw. He just sat at the front row at his first CA and stood up for the 2 baptismquestions, answered both with yes and without ever having a meeting with the elders, he got baptized too and was a brother from that point on. So I guess the answer to your question is yes.

Anyone Can be baptised - Can't they?