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Originally Posted by Brego  Meg, this is a great question, the Church "prefers" Baptism to be done by a Bishop/Priest/Pastor...........a Deacon can do it if access is not available, in fact in VERY EXTREME circumstances a layman may do this rite in an emergency. We have a doctor at my church who 2 times in his career has realized a newborn would not live and done a Baptism. These are extreme cases limited also to Baptized members in good standing.  |
The OP I believe referred to Presbyterian polity. The Presbyterians and Reformed have not historically accepted baptism by deacons and especially not by lay persons. Part of the issue is that the office of deacon is rather different in Anglicanism than in Presbyterianism.