Our Lady of the Annunciation Catholic Church

Annunciation Parish Infant Baptism Preparation Classes:

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INFANT BAPTISM PREPARATION 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 Lent.

• Call Melanie at 298-7553 for information on Baptism for ages Newborn- 6 years old.

• Call Sr. Grace at 296-0411 for information on Baptism for ages 7+ years old.

• Call Mary Agnes at 299-9111 for information on Adult baptism and R.C.I.A.

The Necessity of Baptism

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)