For the final part of our "marketing baptism" series (click to read part 1 and part 2), we're going to look at the critical piece to all of this:

How to get people to baptize their children in the first place.

You can't evangelize baptism families or their guests if no one is actually getting baptized.

Because let me guess: Your funerals outnumber your baptisms at least 3:1.

And listen, I normally focus on the evangelization side of things around here because that's obviously most important.

But the reality is, if you want to be able to operate and do the good work the Lord has called you to, you need people.

And practically speaking, one step forward, three steps back is just a slow burn path to closings and mergers.

Baptism is the crux: spiritually and operationally. So how do we convince people to baptize their children at your parish?

First, we have to split this into two groups: People who are already connected with your church in some way (even loosely), and people who aren't connected with your church at all.

People at your parish

These are the people who are already at your church — maybe not actively, but you see them at Christmas and Easter, maybe even more frequently, or they're at the parish school, CYO, etc.

We can't just assume that because they're connected to you, all their children (or even they) are baptized.

For those who haven't, they likely either A) don't know why it's important or B) waited longer to baptize their children for whatever reason and have kept putting it off.

The solution for this group is easy: Advertise baptism!

(And no, I’m not talking the one line smooshed onto the front of the bulletin with “To schedule a baptism, contact PERSON.”)

What I'm talking about is a full-on campaign: Once or twice a year, a big, dedicated baptism communications push.

We're talking a big feature page in the bulletin, focusing on it in the homily/talking about it after Mass, sharing about it on social media/email, etc.

(Rule of thumb: If you aren't sick of talking about baptism by the end, you probably haven't advertised it enough.)

Most importantly, this can't be just factual; it has to get to the "why." We have to explain what baptism is, what it does, and why they should prioritize getting themselves or their children baptized — in language they will actually resonate with.

For example, for this group, they might not understand or be influenced by the concept of grace from a sacrament.

But they’d likely relate to feeling overwhelmed at raising kids in faith in this crazy world and the prospect of having help with that.

Or the theological underpinnings of baptism may not matter to them...but explaining the process clearly and showing how it's not overwhelming or super time consuming would.

Ideally, you'd time this campaign around when those families would be at church (Christmas/Easter) or around the "baby boom" months of July-October.

A few other ideas:

• For some, a hold up might be not having suitable godparents. Ask some active parishioners if they'd be willing to be godparents for other parish families and advertise that you have people excited to be godparents on hand if that is a hold up for them.
• Another hold up might breaking down misconceptions about it (ie. many people think that they need to be married or married in the Church in order to baptize their children, or maybe they feel overwhelmed by the process as a new parent stuck in survival mode). Calling out those situations specifically may assist people in realizing it's actually possible for them.
• Have information about baptisms readily on hand in the back of the church, at the parish preschool/Catholic school, and definitely "high traffic" days like Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday. Bonus points if you can have parents sign up for baptism information online instead of having to call the office — many parents might be working and unable to talk during normal office hours, but can fill out a form at night for more information.
• Share baptism information along with whatever you might hand out at an expectant parents' blessing.
• Remember that new parents' schedules are crazy — trying posting or emailing in the middle of the night about baptism info when they might be up feeding!
• Go the extra mile: Create a program that helps welcome new babies in your parish! It could be as elaborate as volunteers cooking a meal/cleaning the family's house or gifting the family a Catholic baby book (I love these, especially the high contrast one) or a onesie, bib, etc. with the parish's logo on it. Or it could be as simple as listing new babies born in the parish somewhere for parishioners to pray for or gifting a small parents' devotional to read while up in the middle of the night. Whatever you do, include baptism information with that!

People who aren't already connected with the parish

What about people who aren't already connected to the parish? Maybe people who haven't been to church in years, but are considering having their child baptized?

Here's a few things to do to get in front of those folks:

• Make sure you have good SEO for your church so that if people search "Catholic church near me," you'll come up. Ask parishioners to review you on Google (trust me, people read the reviews to decide where to go to church!) and mention the baptism program. Hopefully, they'll share that it was wonderful to have their child baptized there, that it was friendly and welcoming, etc. You'll also want to make sure that once people reach your website, they can find out information about baptisms easily and that the pages are friendly, explain the process in down-to-earth versus super theological language, and have an easy way to get in contact to get more information.
• Ask some parishioners to be on the lookout in local moms' groups to recommend your church if people ask about baptism. (This happens more often than you think!)
• Host parenting classes at your church (everything from diapering, feeding, developmental milestones) and share information about baptism as part of it.
• Be sure to stock baby items in your food pantry, and have information on hand about baptism for families who request baby items.
• Consider running a small, localized ad campaign promoting baptism (make sure it goes to a very user-friendly page describing what baptism is and why it's important!).
• If you have a Catholic hospital or doctors nearby, ask if you can include information about baptism in their materials for new parents.

I know that's a lot that we've covered in this series. I'm not expecting you to do all of that at once.

But we know how this sacrament is pivotal to the faith journey not just of the person being baptized, but often even more so for the parents. And that's kind of the whole point of what we're doing — bringing lukewarm souls closer to Christ.

So with this new year, take a look at the things we've talked about and pick one thing you think you could add this year. Then, block off two 1-hour time slots on your calendar in the next three months to set aside to plan and create one of these communications.

(And be on the lookout — many of you replied that you were interested in me creating some templates for these, so I have that on my docket for this year!)

Another note: this is also a GREAT thing to include volunteers on! Maybe someone who is busy can't make time for regular church meetings, but they could be a text buddy with a new family or send out cards to newly baptized from their homes. Think outside the box and the 10 parishioners who normally do everything. You don't have to do it all yourself!

Praying for you and all of those who will be baptized in your church this year.

For His greater glory,

Emily

P.S. Thanks to all who voted in the poll a few weeks ago! I'll definitely start creating more series like this one to go more in depth on a topic.