Daughter and son-in-law
We have a daughter raised WELS who married a Catholic boy in our WELS church. At the time of their marriage classes, they did not know how they were going to raise children. She is 25 weeks pregnant and now her Catholic husband feels that they should baptize their child Catholic not WELS Lutheran. Our daughter is a teacher in a public school and wants the child to be baptized Lutheran. Our daughter always talked about teaching Sunday School when her kids were Sunday School age. I always taught our kids in Sunday School. I feel that there are so many Catholics that do not know even the basic Bible stories even after going to a Catholic school. Asking for your help in this situation to help them decide.
While in many cases Baptism establishes membership in a visible church, we want to keep in mind that the saving faith worked in a child through Baptism establishes membership in the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints. Because of that truth, a person is not baptized “Lutheran” or “Roman Catholic.” The saving faith worked in a child through Baptism bestows the title “Christian.” The question that your daughter and son-in-law face is one that concerns the spiritual instruction of their child.
Obviously, it would have been better for your daughter and son-in-law to come to an agreement—before their marriage—on how they were going to raise their children. If they have not had a conversation comparing their churches’ teachings to the Bible, now would be a good time. Your daughter could use This We Believe, a statement of belief of WELS, and go through it with her husband. Both will be able to read the Bible passages that explain our church body’s statement of belief. Both could do the same thing with materials from your son-in-law’s church.
The subject matter I hope your daughter and son-in-law would spend the most time on is salvation. What does each church teach about people enjoying salvation? What does the Bible teach?
The Bible teaches that God saved us because of his mercy; our works do not contribute to our salvation (Romans 3:28; 4:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7). This is what your daughter’s church teaches. The official teaching of salvation from your son-in-law’s church is quite different and not biblical.
I would encourage your daughter to speak to her pastor about this matter. One of the resources he could offer your son-in-law is a no-strings-attached Bible Information Class to learn firsthand what the Bible teaches on a variety of subjects.
I wish you all well and pray for a peaceful resolution to this situation.