On This Date in Nativity History
17 August 1973
On this date, Roger Howard Davis, the infant son of Roger and Annette (Smith) Davis, was the first person baptized in Nativity Parish. Roger was born 13 May 1973. The baptism was performed by Nativity pastor Father Frank Ready in the residence of the Davis family. The sponsors of the child were Mrs. Lauren Grant and Mrs. James Johns. In these early days, baptisms were performed either during Sunday Masses in Hunt Valley School or at other times in the family home or (after 1975) in the rectory on Lyra Court.
This photo shows Father Ready baptizing the second child of parishioner Alana Lukes in the family home in 1978.
When the new church was completed in October 1979, the baptismal font was placed against the wall to the left of the vestibule, between the doors to the sacristy and the chapel. After Father Sal renovated the interior of the church in the early 1990s, the font was moved to the front of the church, just below the steps leading to the sanctuary. The font was moved to its present location after the renovation of the church entrance by Father Bob in 2017. From Roger Davis’s baptism to June 5, 2022, there have been 7,490 baptisms at Nativity.