Host a family baptism celebration. When a child steps across the line of faith and is ready to be baptized, invite the family to a baptism celebration.
Here's some ideas from one we just hosted. We do these once a quarter after the service. We've had great reports on the impact it's making in kids' and parents' lives. Here's a flow and some pictures for ideas.
Encourage families to invite their extended family and friends to come celebrate with them. Provide them with invitations they can use to invite people. You can also use this as a time of outreach and encourage them to invite unchurched friends, neighbors, and classmates to come watch their baptism.
Decorate. Have a table for each family with a name placard, balloons, and cake.
Invite parents to speak a blessing/prayer over their child.
Share the Gospel and the meaning of baptism. We put John 3:16 on the cakes as a bridge to share the Gospel. Many times we will see parents or other families members follow Christ in baptism as well.
Present each child with their baptism certificate.
Move to the baptistry area. When each child is baptized, have their family come up and surround the baptistry to show their support.
Close with prayer.
