I think you're absolutely right about not letting the fire go out.
But the one thing MOST of the churches in Chicago lack are
elders. We were born and bred on the "preacher" system.

Another thing that happened was that my niece JoAnn (Brandon's
mom) was baptized after her mother's shooting last year and she
had placed her membership at Itasca which would've been a good
place for Brandon to be a member. Months later when my sister
still wasn't recovering too well, JoAnn decided that she needed to
attend a church that was closer in case of emergencies with her
mom. This is when she began attending my mom's church which
is less than a mile from my sister's home. Unfortunately, Brandon
spends every other weekend at his father's house in which he
doesn't get to go to church at all.

I think my mom's biggest concern is whether the man who baptized
Brandon actually baptized him with confession and for repentance.
And Brandon, who has no one else to study with him except for when
he visits us, can't remember the actual act that took place at this
baptism.

I had told Dean this morning that I reminded my mom that when Jenae
was baptized at age 7, she would never remember anything if I didn't
continue to study with her about it. Brandon doesn't have this
opportunity at home which is what would cause him to forget actual
facts.

This is where we're puzzled. Do/Should we encourage him to take the
necessary steps again, or do we just leave things as they are?

Joanne