Question: Dear Greg,

What’s the difference between christening and baptism? A friend asked me the other day and I didn’t really know how to answer.

Thanks,

Shot

Answer: Dear Shot,

The exact distinction between christening and baptism can sometimes be blurred depending on the church or denomination one attends. Historically, christening was a time when anointing with oil was administered, followed by a laying on of hands. It was associated with baptism at that time. Later the word came to be virtually the same as baptism (infant baptism), while the most contemporary distinction is that in some churches christening is the time when a name is formally given/assigned to a newborn baby.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht