Number of baptisms

[Prof]

When your youth go on temple trips, is there a limit on the number of baptisms they can do? My understanding was that if the temple provided names, the number was five. But if the youth brought their own names, they could do as many as time allowed. I might have this wrong.

[rpn]

I doubt there is a universal rule.   Talk to your temple.

[bluebell]

50 minutes ago, Prof said:

When your youth go on temple trips, is there a limit on the number of baptisms they can do? My understanding was that if the temple provided names, the number was five. But if the youth brought their own names, they could do as many as time allowed. I might have this wrong.

In my experience it just depends on how busy the baptistery is. I’ve been in the Bountiful temple with the youth where each kid got to do one name. It didn’t matter if they had brought names or not 

[InCognitus]

3 hours ago, Prof said:

When your youth go on temple trips, is there a limit on the number of baptisms they can do? My understanding was that if the temple provided names, the number was five. But if the youth brought their own names, they could do as many as time allowed. I might have this wrong.

Recently I have been working in the baptistry of one of the newer temples, and I have had experience taking youth groups to various temples to do baptisms in the past.  The temple I work in isn't as large as some of the other temples in the area, so it has been a challenge to try to accommodate all who want to attend.

How many baptisms can you do?  This depends entirely on which temple you visit and how busy the baptistry is at the time of the appointment.  Normally each person is limited to five baptisms when the baptistry is busy and trying to accommodate all the appointments. The temple provided names for baptism are on a single sheet of paper that contains five names, so this is the anticipated number for each person doing temple names.  But, the same limit normally applies when you bring family names. 

This limit exists to help make sure everyone who has an appointment can participate at their appointed time and have a good experience.  But if the baptistry is slow on the particular day and time when you visit you might be allowed to do more than five names at a time.  Ask that question at the time you check in.  But please, please, respect the temple's policy on this point.  I have seen youth leaders try to hand out additional names to their youth once they are in the baptistry, and that slows down the process for everyone.

Make an Appointment Online and Respect the Temple's set Appointment Limit:  Most (if not all) the temples have a limit on the number of people that can sign up for baptisms in a specific time slot.  In the temple I've been working at the limit is seven people every 15 minutes.  We have had youth leaders sign up for one seven person time slot and think they can bring in their entire youth group of 14 people (or more sometimes). The limit per time slot is there for a reason.  If you need to bring more people than what your temple allows for a single appointment time, then sign up for more than one time slot.  If all the appointment times for the baptistry are booked and you try to bring in more than the number you signed up for, you may end up having disappointed youth, or they may be asked to do confirmations only (that can be an option). 

Obviously the temple tries to accommodate everyone they can and they want everyone to have a good experience, but when there is a high number of walk-ins (people who come in without an appointment or groups that exceed the time slot limit), people may be turned away and sometimes the youth leaders get angry about that (really, it has happened).  But if the youth leaders honor the appointment limitations they won't have disappointed youth, and they shouldn't get angry about something they can control by working within the temple's limitations.

If you sign in to the church website and try to make an appointment for doing proxy baptisms at the temple of your choice, it may not show you the limit of people per appointment until you enter the numbers you intend to bring for the appointment.  As you fill in the number of male and female participants and you exceed your temple's limit of total participants per appointment, you will be able to see what that limit is.

Bring people to perform baptisms and confirmations if possible:  When signing up for baptisms at my temple (on the church website) it has this message:  "Patrons are encouraged to bring baptizers, confirmers and witnesses to help facilitate the ordinances."  Sometimes that is not feasible depending on the group.  But doing this also helps you have the best experience possible.  We have had young women groups show up with 14+ young women with no priesthood holders.  The temple can accommodate those situations, but generally we have young men or leaders from other groups help in performing the baptisms in those situations.  There is also (generally) a temple ordinance worker who is prepared to change into baptismal clothing to help perform the baptisms, but in many cases the number of temple ordinance workers are limited and it is better for all involved to try to limit when this is necessary.

Prepare the Youth Before you Go:  Let them know that they can be witnesses, and teach them what it means to be a witness of a baptism.  Let them know that they need to pay attention when filling that position. Also train the priests on how to do the baptisms (if they have never done it before).  And tell them they need to abstain from using their cell phones while in the baptistry.  This is a hard thing for some of the youth, I know, but they can go without their phone for an hour. 

Arrive on Time!  Arrive for your appointment time a little early if possible.  If you are late, there can be more congestion in the baptistry as other groups arrive for their appointed times.

Make Sure the Youth Have Their Recommends:  You can save a lot of time if you double check with your youth to make sure they have their recommends before you leave to go to the temple, and make sure none of them are expired.  The recorder at the temple can help with youth who have forgotten their recommends, but this delays the appointment process, and this is another reason it's a good idea to arrive early to avoid unforeseen circumstances.

Finally, here's a church article that answers many of the questions:  Baptisms for the Dead: What to Know Before You Go

ETA:  The article linked above is from 2004, and says that patrons must be 12 years old or older.  That's obviously outdated.  Here is a more updated article:  Planning for Temple Baptisms

The updated article also has good information about the appropriate clothing to wear to the temple, and updated information on serving as a witness.

Edited March 30, 2025 by InCognitus

[Calm]

4 minutes ago, InCognitus said:

t.  I have seen youth leaders try to hand out additional names to their youth once they are in the baptistry

Odd to try and act against instruction one agrees to when in the temple.

[InCognitus]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

Odd to try and act against instruction one agrees to when in the temple.

That, and the angry youth leader (after he showed up with an oversized group and was trying to break the appointment limit rule) was a surprise to me too.

I think the youth leaders need better training on these things.  But now that I'm in Utah I think it also stems from the fact that there are so many different temple choices and some temples have different capacities than others, or they may have been able to get away with bringing a larger group than scheduled in the past at a different time or different temple.

[bluebell]

5 minutes ago, InCognitus said:

That, and the angry youth leader (after he showed up with an oversized group and was trying to break the appointment limit rule) was a surprise to me too.

I think the youth leaders need better training on these things.  But now that I'm in Utah I think it also stems from the fact that there are so many different temple choices and some temples have different capacities than others, or they may have been able to get away with bringing a larger group than scheduled in the past at a different time or different temple.

I think part of is frustration too because sometimes and in some places it's almost impossible to get youth appointments for church leaders (they can always go with a friend or their family of course. I'm talking about doing baptisms for the dead as a youth activity) and it can feel like there's a lot at stake for those youth who can't go with their family or drive themselves.  We had to stop doing youth activities at the temple all together at one point, because our entire ward (with 30 plus kids) only got 1.5 hours a year (cumulative, not at each visit) in our temple district's baptistry.  Since you couldn't get 30 kids through (even in separate appointments) in 1.5 hours, we had to stop offering that as an activity option. 

I found youth temple visits incredibly frustrating in my stake in Utah, and like the kids really suffered because of the logistics.  Those logistics were not unfair, and they were what they were because of the number of people that needed to be accomodated, but it was still a step down from what the kids in my parents stake in Wyoming got to experience and that made me sad.

 

 

[InCognitus]

18 minutes ago, bluebell said:

I found youth temple visits incredibly frustrating in my stake in Utah, and like the kids really suffered because of the logistics.  Those logistics were not unfair, and they were what they were because of the number of people that needed to be accomodated, but it was still a step down from what the kids in my parents stake in Wyoming got to experience and that made me sad.

Each temple is different, of course.  But in Arizona we had similar problems at the Gilbert and Mesa temples during high-volume periods (like Saturday mornings).  But we were able to at least do monthly temple trips with the youth.

For the temple I am working in now the high volume period is on Wednesday evenings because that's when a lot of the youth do their activities. I hear that on other times of the week it is a lot easier to schedule, and with more families coming in rather than big youth groups.

[bluebell]

44 minutes ago, InCognitus said:

Each temple is different, of course.  But in Arizona we had similar problems at the Gilbert and Mesa temples during high-volume periods (like Saturday mornings).  But we were able to at least do monthly temple trips with the youth.

For the temple I am working in now the high volume period is on Wednesday evenings because that's when a lot of the youth do their activities. I hear that on other times of the week it is a lot easier to schedule, and with more families coming in rather than big youth groups.

We eventually had to start doing them at a temple an hour north, at weird times. It was inconvenient but at least possible.

[Emily]

1 hour ago, bluebell said:

I found youth temple visits incredibly frustrating in my stake in Utah, and like the kids really suffered because of the logistics. 

I can see how it can be frustrating not being able to get the whole youth group to the temple for an activity... but perhaps what's really needed is a paradigm shift. Stop trying to take the entire youth group at the same time. Do class activities, or put together small groups to go on their own with signups and adult volunteers to drive.

The small groups have a better experience at the temple anyway. It's quieter, less chaotic and the kids don't have to spend so much time waiting around for the rest of the group to finish.

As a temple worker, I find that the best spirit exists, and the best youth-advisor bonding occurs when an advisor brings in just her/his class, family groups are also wonderful, or my favorite thing to see ...when a group of kids come on their own. A 16 year old with Dad's keys, packing the car with siblings or friends and choosing to go to the temple is so beautiful. They are always happy to be there, eager to serve and obviously chuffed to be doing it on their own. Let your driving age kids know they can simply make an appointment and go to the temple. They don't need an advisor or even a parent to be there. If they are willing to go and just do confirmations (temple names only), they can even go as walk-ins and will likely get in. Younger kids can be encouraged to nag their parents or older siblings to take them as well. The children need to know it's their temple and they are welcome to go when they want to go. They don't have to wait for a youth activity.

Just keep in mind that if you take a class of girls or deacons/teachers, you need to invite a priest to accompany your class (preferred) or a Melchizedek priesthood holder to come with you. What Gary mentioned is true, the temple workers will change and get into the water if they have to, but it takes them away from their other assignments. There's no one specifically assigned to do baptisms anymore. The expectation is that the ward priests will step forward to take care of this duty. It actually is one of their duties now and it's excellent training in what holding the priesthood means (service, service, service) to bring a priest from the ward when you take your 12 year old class to the temple. From what I've seen, most of the priests are eager to be considered an asset in this respect. Boys get far too much, "you aren't really needed" messaging from the world -- a little bit of being needed is good for their self-image.

Edited March 30, 2025 by Emily

[bluebell]

40 minutes ago, Emily said:

I can see how it can be frustrating not being able to get the whole youth group to the temple for an activity... but perhaps what's really needed is a paradigm shift. Stop trying to take the entire youth group at the same time. Do class activities, or put together small groups to go on their own with signups and adult volunteers to drive.

The small groups have a better experience at the temple anyway. It's quieter, less chaotic and the kids don't have to spend so much time waiting around for the rest of the group to finish.

As a temple worker, I find that the best spirit exists, and the best youth-advisor bonding occurs when an advisor brings in just her/his class, family groups are also wonderful, or my favorite thing to see ...when a group of kids come on their own. A 16 year old with Dad's keys, packing the car with siblings or friends and choosing to go to the temple is so beautiful. They are always happy to be there, eager to serve and obviously chuffed to be doing it on their own. Let your driving age kids know they can simply make an appointment and go to the temple. They don't need an advisor or even a parent to be there. If they are willing to go and just do confirmations (temple names only), they can even go as walk-ins and will likely get in. Younger kids can be encouraged to nag their parents or older siblings to take them as well. The children need to know it's their temple and they are welcome to go when they want to go. They don't have to wait for a youth activity.

Just keep in mind that if you take a class of girls or deacons/teachers, you need to invite a priest to accompany your class (preferred) or a Melchizedek priesthood holder to come with you. What Gary mentioned is true, the temple workers will change and get into the water if they have to, but it takes them away from their other assignments. There's no one specifically assigned to do baptisms anymore. The expectation is that the ward priests will step forward to take care of this duty. It actually is one of their duties now and it's excellent training in what holding the priesthood means (service, service, service) to bring a priest from the ward when you take your 12 year old class to the temple. From what I've seen, most of the priests are eager to be considered an asset in this respect. Boys get far too much, "you aren't really needed" messaging from the world -- a little bit of being needed is good for their self-image.

We did try but like I said, we couldn’t even do it by class or quorum because our ward would run out of our allotted yearly time before all the classes and quorums got to go once.  I was always really grateful that the kids can go when they wanted. The problem where the kids that never went unless it was a scheduled activity. Those were the ones that we didn’t want to fall through the cracks.

Thankfully I don’t live in such a busy area anymore and the youth in this stake can all go once a month together (even though the closest temple is 90 miles away) instead of once every 18 months. And of course they can go with family.  Going on their own isn’t as possible, since the temple is out of state.  But I assume the older kids might do it sometimes.

There’s a lot of wonderful things about Utah. And some things that are better outside of Utah.  It is what it is. Every area has its thing that it excels at and its thing that it struggles with.

[The Nehor]

We are running out of baptismal names.

[Buckeye]

18 hours ago, bluebell said:

I think part of is frustration too because sometimes and in some places it's almost impossible to get youth appointments for church leaders (they can always go with a friend or their family of course. I'm talking about doing baptisms for the dead as a youth activity) and it can feel like there's a lot at stake for those youth who can't go with their family or drive themselves.  We had to stop doing youth activities at the temple all together at one point, because our entire ward (with 30 plus kids) only got 1.5 hours a year (cumulative, not at each visit) in our temple district's baptistry.  Since you couldn't get 30 kids through (even in separate appointments) in 1.5 hours, we had to stop offering that as an activity option. 

I found youth temple visits incredibly frustrating in my stake in Utah, and like the kids really suffered because of the logistics.  Those logistics were not unfair, and they were what they were because of the number of people that needed to be accomodated, but it was still a step down from what the kids in my parents stake in Wyoming got to experience and that made me sad.

 

 

My wife is in our wards YW presidency. She took the assignment this past quarter to book their quarterly temple trip for baptisms. This means she sat up until midnight the night before slots for the quarter opened to book a spot. Not the best slot but she got one. They fill in minutes here.  It’s harder than getting a camping spot in Arches or Yosemite. The church really should rotate slots between stakes to avoid this chaos. 

[Prof]

Thanks all, for answering my question!