Mormon Rituals The Mormons do have quite a number of rituals, they call these rituals ordinances. One of these rituals is The Baptism for the Dead. The Baptismal font inside a Mormon Temple is most likely the most striking feature; the font is able to accommodate several people standing in waist high water.
The proxies are usually a group of teenage boys who have come to the temple in a group for an excursion. Dressed in white, they line up to enter the water one by one to be immersed by the officiators with the short baptismal prayer: "Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you for and in behalf of N. N., who is dead, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." The name of the dead person is read from a list to the officiator just before the immersion.
Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Ch...
Smith's later theology described Jesus and God the...
Latter-day Saints believe in the resurrected Jesus...One proxy may be baptized quickly in succession for ten or fifteen dead people. After the baptisms, two other officiators confirm the newly baptized dead persons as members of the Mormon Church and confer upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost, by placing their hands upon the head of each proxy, with a similar short pronouncement. Hundreds of such baptisms and confirmations can be performed in a few hours.
Another Ritual is The Endowment, this ritual takes several hours to complete and only adult Mormons are allowed to participate. The endowment ceremony is a kind of initiation rite, consisting of dramatization, instruction, passwords, oaths, and examinations. It consists of two parts: a preliminary "washing and anointing" ceremony, and the endowment itself. The first time a Mormon goes through the endowment ceremony, it is for himself (or herself), and he participates in both parts. The washing and anointing...