Annunciation Parish Infant Baptism Preparation Classes & Baptism Dates:
| Deadline for Registration | Instruction Date | Baptism Date |
| December 21, 2009 | January 11, 2010 | January 23 & 24, 2010 |
| Janaury 18, 2010 | February 8, 2010 | Febraury 28, 2010 -- 1:00 PM with Deacon *Lent - baptisms are not celebrated during Mass |
| February 15, 2010 | March 8, 2010 | March 21, 2010 -- 1:00 PM with Deacon *Lent - baptisms are not celebrated during Mass |
| March 22, 2010 | April 12, 2010 | April 24 & 25, 2010 |
| April 19, 2010 | May 10, 2010 | May 22 & 23, 2010 |
| May 17, 2010 | June 14, 2010 | June 26 & 27, 2010 |
| June 21, 2010 | July 12, 2010 | July 24 & 25, 2010 |
| July 19, 2010 | August 9, 2010 | August 28 & 29, 2010 |
| August 23, 2010 | September 13, 2010 | September 18 & 19, 2010 |
| September 20, 2010 | Octover 11, 2010 | October 23 & 24, 2010 |
| October 18, 2010 | November 8, 2010 | November 20 & 21, 2010 |
| November 22, 2010 | December 13, 2010 | December 18 & 19, 2010 |
Parents and Godparents seeking baptism for a child have a responsibility to attend a baptism preparation session before the Baptism takes place. Annunciation Parish offers a Baptism Preparation instruction class once a month, on the 2nd Monday of each month from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. Parents should carefully consider choosing a saint’s name for their child, perhaps a role model whose life reflects the hopes and aspirations for this God-given child. Please contact the Parish office to register and for more information.
Baptisms usually take place on the 4th weekend of the month except November and December (3rd weekend due to the holidays.) There are no baptisms during Mass during Lent.
Christians have always interpreted the Bible literally when it declares, "Baptism . . . now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 3:21; cf. Acts 2:38, 22:16, Rom. 6:3–4, Col. 2:11–12).
Thus the early Church Fathers wrote in the Nicene Creed (A.D. 381), "We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins."
And the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The Lord himself affirms that baptism is necessary for salvation [John 3:5]. . . . Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament [Mark 16:16]" (CCC 1257).
The Christian belief that baptism is necessary for salvation is so unshakable that even the Protestant Martin Luther affirmed the necessity of baptism. He wrote: "Baptism is no human plaything but is instituted by God himself. Moreover, it is solemnly and strictly commanded that we must be baptized or we shall not be saved. We are not to regard it as an indifferent matter, then, like putting on a new red coat. It is of the greatest importance that we regard baptism as excellent, glorious, and exalted" (Large Catechism 4:6).
Catholic Answers, “The Necessity of Baptism” (San Diego: Catholic Answers, 2004)
http://www.catholic.com/library/Necessity_of_Baptism.asp