North Carolina Christian school baptises more than 100 students without their parents’ permission

The school posts on Facebook that it had students ‘spontaneously declare their faith and get baptized’

A private Christian school in North Carolina announced last Friday that it performed more than 100 baptisms on middle and high school students without their parents’ permission.

“I feel it in my bones, You’re about to move! Today we had over 100 middle and high school students spontaneously declare their faith and get baptized today,” Northwood Temple Academy in Fayetteville, North Carolina posted on Facebook on September 1. “We will have more pictures of these powerful moments posted over the next couple of days!”

Three students had previously scheduled baptisms at the school last Thursday, but then the school offered to baptise any student who was so inclined — which took the number of baptisms to over 100.

While some families appeared to celebrate their student’s participation in the ritual, others voiced concern — either because they were not able to be present for the ritual or because their student had already been baptised.

“I do understand that parents would desire to be a part of something so wonderful happening in the lives of their children, and so I apologize that we did not take that into consideration in that moment,” Renee McLamb, the head of school, wrote to parents in a letter obtained by the Fayetteville Observer. “I pray that at the end of the day we will all rejoice because God truly did a work in the lives of our students.”

Northwood Temple Academy is part of the Northwood Temple Pentecostal Holiness Church, and has an enrolment of roughly 460 students. Students attend chapel weekly; the school’s website states that “every chapel seeks to keep a fresh focus on the person of Jesus while presenting the truth of Scripture in meaningful and relevant ways.”

In her letter, Ms McLamb acknowledged that the school should have given students the opportunity to contact their families before going ahead with their baptisms.

“We were not expecting such an overwhelming response to the message that was spoken, but as a mother I certainly can empathize with why some parents were upset,” Ms McLamb wrote.