Baptism Day (Døpt dag)

Today was Hege’s big day (Odd and Turid’s fourteen year old daughter). We were invited to attend the State church with them to watch her get baptized, and then attend the celebration afterwards. In the State church here in Norway, it’s required that all those who go through Confirmation, be baptized first. Most people are brought into church as infants and sprinkled with water soon after they are born, but Odd and Turid never did that. Odd was raised in the Pentecostal church (and they don’t baptize infants) and Turid was raised in the State church, and they do – so they could never come to an agreement as to what to do, so they just did nothing, as neither of them attend church anymore. But now that Hege wants to be confirmed in the State church, she must be baptized.

It was all quite formal and very special and I’m glad we got to attend. The church bells began to ring five minutes before the service started, which is actually the norm for every Sunday, and we arrived just as they began to chime, calling all to attendance. (We heard on the radio once that in a remote area of Norway they blast off a cannon instead as everyone lives too far away to hear the bells.) A whole section in the front of the church was reserved just for the family. The church was very modern (and round) and circling the entire church were stained glass windows with a very artsy design depicting the major stories of the Bible (this follows after the tradition in the big cathedrals where they used the windows to tell the stories because so many weren’t able to read or didn’t have Bibles.) When the organ began to play, three women in white robes came in bearing candles, followed by Hege in her white robe, and her two older sisters in their bunads (traditional Norwegian costume.) Normally, for infant baptism, the parents would accompany the baby, but Hege chose to have her “God parents” as her witnesses. (Her sisters will take custody of her should anything happen to her parents before she is 18.) The Priest announced it was a special day today because of Hege’s baptism and then everyone said the Apostles’ Creed (which I recognized even though it was in Norwegian) and we sang a song. (The page numbers to all the hymns we sang today were posted on the walls, but it was done in such a way it reminded me of the numbers on the walls when I was a kid that signified how many were in attendance the previous Sunday, so it took me a while to figure it all out.)

The Priest called Hege and her witnesses forward and they all stood at the baptismal stand. The Priest asked Hege if she believed Jesus was the son of God and that he died for her sins, and she giggled and said “Ja.” He then laid his hand on her head, said and prayer, and made the sign of the cross on her forehead. She leaned over the bowl of water, the Priest cupped his hand in the water and poured it over her head three times as he baptized her in the name of the “Father, Son and Holy Ghost,” and then gave her a cloth to dry off. And that was it. Hege and her sisters sat back down while the Priest went back to the pulpit to deliver the sermon. And I do believe it was the same sermon being preached in all State churches in the entire country today, as that is the tradition here. Our friend Halton, who was born in 1920, once told me that when he was growing up, if the weather was too bad to attend church in person (they had to take a boat to get there), his father would read the sermon right from a book that was published every year that all the churches (and families used). My teacher Inga said when her father was young, the whole family would dress up in their Sunday best and sit by the radio and hear the sermon, if they weren’t able to make it out to church – so they have the whole sermon thing well prepared before the day arrives for its delivery. And the sermon today was good enough in parts that Kory wanted to shout Hallelujah a few times, but he whispered it instead – causing his cousins to have to contain their laugher as they all sat in fear that he might actually raise his voice and embarrass the entire family. I whispered a few “Amens” myself as I caught parts of the sermon referring to God calling us His children, but otherwise, I was lost in the formalities of the service and routine responses, but at least I understood the Lord’s Prayer.

After the service was over we took photos in the church before heading off to Turid’s art studio for a big Sunday dinner. All formal events here in Norway are cause for people to wear their bunads, have sit-down dinners and formal speeches. Odd gave a welcoming speech to Hege and the guests (it was only family in attendance) and Hege gave a little speech as well. We all ate until we couldn’t eat anymore, and then had coffee and cakes afterwards. It was customary to give gifts for this occasion so Hege got a lot of cash and all the silver accessories she needs for her own bunad, which she will get on her Confirmation day in June. It was a wonderful time for the family to gather today and celebrate this religious event, and we felt honored to be included. Kory shouted HALLELUJAH as soon as he was able to not embarrass anyone.