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Jacob Khalil is a student at Brigham Young majoring in Vocal Performance. He grew up in a home with a Mormon mother and a Muslim father. In order to respect his father’s request, Jacob didn’t get baptized until he was 18 years old and could make the decision as a legal adult. In this interview we discuss how Jacob’s parents, youth leaders, and other members of his ward influenced him during his youth. We talk about best practices a leader can make when faced with a situation where a child cannot be baptized until they are an adult.
Links:
Panel Discussion About Policy Change on This Week in Mormons
I just finished listening to this interview. What a powerful example of the eternal impact potential of magnifying every calling, no matter how ‘small’, and also magnifying our call as baptized members to reach out and include everyone without judgement of them or their situations.
This was very cool, sadly in my sister’s case my father asked her not to get baptized till she was 18 and by the time she turned 18 she was no longer interested in God or Church. Now she is more okay with it, but she is 33 today and maybe it’s time to revisit the option of her listening to the missionaries.
I’m the older brother in the family, and I left for a mission, but overall my impression has been that if she would have gotten baptized she would have gone into inactivity afterwards… but that is only an assumption on my part.
I’m at the point where I no longer care if people are members of the church or not, in my eyes everyone is already a member of Christ church, its just a matter of when they will join, if it will be in this life or the next. It is the same in my opinion, of course the sooner the better, but I won’t stress over this.
I understand the need for some to wait till they’re 18 to be baptised. The downside in my area is that many members act in a prejudiced like manner toward those that are “different”. If you’re not part of the programme then you are neglected. If a Youth wants to come to church but can’t be baptised, they won’t be participating in Temple trips, Priesthood duties etc. Unfortunately it takes an enlightened, intelligent and sensitive group of members to give these individuals the support they need. Policy that effects the most vulnerable amongst us works best in a strong, spiritually mature Wards and Stakes, otherwise the results are ruthless.
Maybe your leaders would benefit from this podcast and the one by Bishop Tony Batanero of Spain, who was a youth convert in a country with few LDS members.