Swedish Church starts Baptism campaign
Baptism of a royal baby in Denmark. Image not related to article. Photo AFP, Keld Navntoft
Northern Europe
The Church of Sweden wants to convince parents to baptise their children. Therefore, it started a special campaign.
The campaign exists of several ads on radio and tv, Dagen writes. The commercials are to get parents interested in baptism, the Church writes in its news bulletin. They emphasise the traditional and festive aspects of the sacrament.
Faith
Church office analysis manager Magdalena Widmark explains that some parents worry that they will be indebted to the Church if they have their children baptised. A recent survey of the Church showed that. It was conducted among 25- to 40-year-olds with and without children.
Parents who do not get their children baptised do so for several reasons, Widmark says. First, there is the category that believes that children should decide for themselves whether they want to be baptised. Secondly, some parents disagree with their spouses on whether their children should be baptised. Thirdly, some parents think baptism is outdated. Fourthly, some parents do not have the energy to take their children to Church for Baptism. Lastly, some parents consider themselves to be insufficiently faithful to baptise their children.
Opportunity
The Baptism campaign of the Church is to encourage the last group to take the step and baptise their children. “Through the commercials, we want to have the opportunity to reinforce the positive feelings in the group: joy, community and baptism as a tradition”, Widmark says.
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