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A Parent's Objection to the Baptism of a Minor

The following summary is from jwbaptism.blogspot.com. It regards a 14 year old child that was baptised without the knowledge or consent of his unbelieving father. The father quite reasonably had requested his son not be baptised until at least the age of 16. The father "supports the view that people should be both fully informed and of adult age before they commit themselves to being under the spiritual (or ecclesiastical) authority of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses."

On becoming aware of his son's baptism, the father initiated a series of correspondence, included below, to a body of elders and branch office of Jehovah's Witnesses. His concerns are completely dismissed with little explanation.

Although age is not a determining factor in whether or not a person can get baptized, respect for a parent's wishes is:

"Is there a certain age by which you should be baptized? Age is not the primary factor. Still, you should be old enough -- and mature enough -- to understand the meaning of dedication." - Young People Ask Vol 2, Chapter 31 ("Should I Get Baptized?")

The same book includes the following advice:

"What if you want to get baptized but your parents say you should wait? Perhaps they’d like you to gain more experience in Christian living. Value their advice, and use this time to grow in your friendship with Jehovah.--1 Samuel 2:26."

Since this is the official advice, it might well be asked why a body of elders would facilitate the baptism of a minor against the known wishes of a child's parent.

To: The Body of Elders, *Sometown Congregation

21 November 2010

RE: Baptism of *John White

It has come to my attention that my son *John, who is 14 years of age, was baptised at a recent assembly. This was done without my consent, and my wife *Jacky did not tell me beforehand.

Some time ago, *John approached me concerning his wish to be baptised. I told him that I wanted him to wait until he was an adult (i.e. 18 years of age) before making such a far reaching decision. However, I was prepared for him to speak to me again about this matter when he became 16 years of age, at which time I would reconsider his request.

Nevertheless, recently *John again approached me on this subject. In response, I said quite definitely that I did not want him to get baptised while he was still a child. I also explained that I considered the second question of the baptism 'vows' to be equivalent to agreeing to a contract, which would require him to accept all that went with being a recognised member of Jehovah's Witnesses. This being the case, I could not allow him to agree, while a minor, to such a contract. …

The congregation should be aware that I have always tried to support *Jacky and *John in their desire to participate in the various activities of the congregation. I have never knowingly done anything to discourage or hinder them in their religious life. That is why it comes as a severe blow to me that they could not respect this one proviso. …

I should appreciate a written acknowledgement of this letter and a response to the points raised.

Kind regards

*Charlie White

cc Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, IBSA House, The Ridgeway, London, NW7 1RN

4 January 2010
Branch Committee
IBSA House
The Ridgeway
London
NW7 1RN

Dear Sirs

COMPLAINT AGAINST *SOMETOWN CONGREGATION ELDERS

I am writing to lodge a formal complaint against certain members of the *Sometown Congregation body of elders.

It is my understanding that my son, *John (age 14), was recently prepared for baptism as a member of Jehovah's Witnesses by *Matthew Redley, *Ray Bolton and *Roger Miles. My son was baptized as a member of Jehovah's Witnesses at an assembly held at Bows Road in London shortly afterwards. It is also my understanding that *Tim Brown, in the capacity of Presiding Overseer, would have known about this matter. At no time did they consult with me or inform me of *John's intention to get baptised.

Since I attend neither the meetings nor assemblies of Jehovah's Witnesses, I was unaware of what took place. It was only after the assembly that my son came to me and told me of his baptism. Although my son had approached me on two occasions saying he wanted to get baptized, I explained that it was not my wish for him to do so while he was still a minor. However, I did say to him that I would be willing to discuss this subject with him when he became sixteen years of age. ...

I have informed other members of my family about this situation, and all of them expressed their unhappiness about it. One member, who is not a Witness, was quite shocked. After the event, I contacted congregation elder *Bill Black. He told me that he had not been happy about the matter. He is the only elder who has apologized to me. …

I ask that you reply in writing directly to me, rather than through the body of elders of the *Sometown Congregation. Thank you.

Yours faithfully

*Charlie White

WATCH TOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF BRITAIN
THE RIDGEWAY LONDON NW7 1RN

SDF January 12, 2011

Dear Mr *White:

We received your letter on January 6, 2011, in which you lodge a complaint concerning elders of the *Sometown Congregation who approved your son's recent baptism.

May we commend you firstly for the respectful tone of your letter. It was also very appropriate that you made your initial approach to the elders of the *Sometown Congregation. They are best placed to determine whether an individual requesting baptism would qualify or not. For this reason we are happy to leave such matters to the judgement of the local congregation elders and we do not believe we are in a position to make any further comment. So that they are aware of our reply, we are sending the elders a copy of this letter.

May we take this opportunity to convey to you our very best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Watch Tower B. & T. Society OF BRITAIN

cc: Body of Elders, *Sometown

To: The Body of Elders, *Sometime Congregation

12 February 2011

RE: Baptism of *John White

You will remember that I wrote a letter to you, dated 21 November 2010, concerning the baptism of my son. Some days later I received a letter, dated 4 December 2010, giving confirmation of receipt of my aforementioned letter. This letter of acknowledgement was signed by *Bill Black, *Tim Brown and *Matthew Redley. Since it was stated in that letter that there was an intention to reply in due course, naturally I have been waiting in expectation.

A chance remark by my son led me to understand that *Matthew Redley and *Ivan Davids wished to arrange a meeting with me. It was not made clear to me what the purpose of this meeting would be. This prompted me, along with concern over another issue, to take the initiative by making a telephone call to *Matthew Redley on the evening of Wednesday 19 January 2011. During the course of that conversation, I came to the conclusion that there was no intention on the part of the elders to send me a written response to my previous letter.

In the meantime I had sent a letter to IBSA House making a formal complaint. I received a letter of reply, dated 12 January 2011, which did not acknowledge my concerns but simply appeared to endorse the actions taken by the elders involved. …

STATEMENTS OF FACTS
...

8. According to the stated "Charity overview" of *Sometown Congregation Of Jehovah's Witnesses (charity number #######), which appears on the Charity Commission's website, "the congregation is organised on the basis of scriptural precedent and as otherwise recommended by the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Britain, with which the congregation is affiliated."

9. Section 9.1 of the Articles of Association (as ammended in 2000) of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain defines "Jehovah's Witnesses" as "that body of Christians who recognise the spiritual authority of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses situated at 25 Columbia Heights Brooklyn New York, United States." …

Kind regards

*Charlie White

*Sometown Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses

February 20th 2011

Dear Mr White,

In response to your concerns we hope that you will understand that we cannot comment on your relationship with your son or wife as we have not been a party to those discussions.

As to the matter of baptism we share the view of Jehovah's Witnesses generally, that baptism is a personal matter.

We hope this response will prove satisfactory.

For the body of elders

*Tim *Matthew *Bill

Co-coordinator Secretary Service Overseer

8 March 2011

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain
Watch Tower House
The Ridgeway
London NW7 1RS

Dear Mr Carpenter

RE: Baptism of *John White - *Sometown Congregation

It is my understanding that the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses delegate the appoinment of elders (also known as overseers) to the various branch offices under its control and that these elders come under the oversight and direction of those branch offices. In view of this, the body of elders in the *Sometown Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses comes under the oversight and direction of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain.

The reason I am writing to you is that I have tried on two occasions, by letter, to resolve an issue in relation to the recent baptism of my son *John. In the first instance I received a letter of acknowledgement from the body of elders. In that letter it was stated that there was an intention to respond in due course. However, after waiting two months, no response came. Therefore, I sent another letter to the body of elders. I received a written response from three elders who wrote on behalf of the body. However, the content of the letter shows that there is no intention on the part of the body of elders to resolve the matter to my satisfaction.

I would like to point out that my son is 14 years of age. He is not an adult. Therefore, making any vow of allegiance to an organization, religious or otherwise, is something that I as his father object to. My son's baptism as a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization was done in the full knowledge that I was against this.

I am therefore holding the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain responsible for enforcing my demands to (1) annul the baptism of my son as a member of Jehovah's Witnesses and provide written proof thereof, and (2) any record, either in the care of the *Anytime Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses and/or its agent(s), which identifies my son as being a baptized member of Jehovah's Witnesses be modified to indicate that the baptism is annulled.

If my demands are not met within twenty-eight (28) days of the date of this letter, I will be taking the next step in my plan to resolve this matter to my satisfaction.

Yours sincerely

*Charlie White

WATCH TOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF BRITAIN
THE RIDGEWAY LONDON NW7 1RN

SDF March 30, 2011

Dear Mr *White:

We are writing in response to your letter dated March 8, 2011, concerning the baptism of your son.

We cannot add to our letter of January 12 and therefore we are not able to enter into further correspondence on this matter.

Please accept an expression of our best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Watch Tower B. & T. Society OF BRITAIN

cc: Body of Elders, *Sometown

5 April 2011
Charity Commission Direct
PO Box 1227
Liverpool L69 3UG

Dear Sirs

FORMAL COMPLAINT AGAINST CHARITIES ####### & 1077961

I am writing to make a formal complaint against the *Sometown Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses (charity number #######) and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Britain (WBTSB - charity number 1077961).

My complaint involves the handling of my objections and demands concerning the preparation for and approval of the baptism as a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) religion of my son *John who at the time was fourteen (14) years of age. I understand that the baptism itself took place at the Bowes Road Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in London on the thirteenth (13th) of November 2010.

First of all I need to bring to your attention the fact that baptism as a JW requires the active participation and approval procedures of members of the local congregation's Body of Elders (please see extracts from the book "Organized To Do Jehovah's Will"). However, just before baptism two oral vows are made by the candidate for baptism, the second of which identifies the person as having come under the ecclesiastical authority of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses (please see extracts from the Memorandum & Articles of Association of the WBTSB).

As you will see from the included copies of correspondence, I have tried to resolve the matter directly with the charities themselves. However, both have now stated clearly that they will not be engaging in any further correspondence on the matter. You will also see that my demands for the annulment of my son's baptism is obviously something that they will not action. There has also been no apology for the actions taken by certain elders involved in the preparation and approval of *John's baptism despite the fact that they knew I did not approve.

My concern is not only for my son, but also for other children of JWs. In the 15 June 2011 study edition of the Watchtower (available for download from **jwmedia.org), there is an article entitled "Should Youths Get Baptized?" It is of particular concern to me that the picture of the young child in the article appears, by its very inclusion, to be promoting the idea that it is good for those who have not reached emotional maturity as adults to come under the spiritual authority of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witness, and the subsequent controlled way of life this requires. I do not think it right that minors should be pressured to commit themselves in this way.

I would appreciate your giving this matter serious attention and look forward to your written response to this letter. Thank you.

Yours faithfully

*Charlie *White

Charity Commission Direct
PO Box 1127, Liverpool L69 3UG

t: 0845 3000 218
f: 0151 703 1555

Our Ref: MH/1077961/######/CCD

Date: 14 April 2011

Dear Mr *White,

Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Britain - 1077961 & *Sometown Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses - #######

Thank you for contacting us recently and raising your concerns about the above named charities. We have looked carefully at the information you have provided and appreciate the time you have taken to send this to the Charity Commission.

I understand from your correspondence that you are not satisfied with the way that both charities have handled your objections and demands regarding the preparation and approval of your son's baptism.

Many complaints against charities, or disputes involving charities, are brought to our attention. Our jurisdiction only extends to compliance with charity law and in this case there is no evidence that the trustees have breached charity law. Generally we will take further action if there is a serious risk of significant harm to or abuse of a charity, its assets, beneficiaries or reputation and we will take action if our intervention is a necessary and proportionate response to protect them.

The concerns that you have raised are not matters that the Charity Commission can offer advice on because they do not fall within charity law. Given that your concerns are not within the regulatory role of the Charity Commission we are unable to comment any further correspondence on the issues you have raised.

Our publication Complaints About Charities (CC47) explains in detail what issues we can look into and how to let us know about them. This can be downloaded via the link below:

www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Publications/cc47.aspx

I hope this information is helpful and clarifies our position.

Yours Sincerely,

M_______ H______

Charity Commission Direct

* The names appearing in these letters have been changed.

** He should have written: Watchtower 1 June 1985, page 30.