Northwood Temple Academy, a private Christian school in Fayetteville, North Carolina, apologized after baptizing more than 100 children without their parents’ permission.
Originally three students were scheduled for baptism on the morning of the event during Spiritual Emphasis Week, but grew miraculously as the offer was extended to others who were not scheduled.
“My daughter calls me from the school and says, ‘Mama, can you bring me some dry clothes? I got baptized today,’” the parent of an 11-year-old told the Fayetteville Observer. “I said, ‘WHAT?’”
Daily Beast
The school says it typically notifies and invites parents to be present for any baptisms that happen on campus, and “it was not the intention of any faculty member to do anything behind a parent’s back or in any kind of secret way.”
Renee McLamb, the head of the school, explained in a letter that the “Spirit of the Lord moved and the invitation to accept the Lord and be baptized was given and the students just began to respond to the presence of the Lord.”
McLamb said that parents should have been notified to ask for permission, and could understand why some parents were upset.
“I do understand that parents would desire to be a part of something so wonderful happening in the lives of their children, and so I apologize that we did not take that into consideration in that moment,” McLamb said.
McLamb said that most of the parents that contacted her were glad, but some were unhappy with the move. Some of the children had already been baptized, and at least one family was concerned that a second baptism could undo the first.
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