A North Carolina school baptized more than 100 kids without parental permission or attendance: 'Mama, can you bring me some dry clothes?'

• Northwood Temple Academy baptized more than 100 kids without their parents' permission or presence.
• Parents told Northwood Principal Renee McLamb that they were upset that they had missed the ceremony.

A North Carolina school baptized more than 100 students without asking permission from their parents, The Fayetteville Observer reported on Friday.

When parents learned that their children had been baptized at the Northwood Temple Academy, they were upset.

"My daughter calls me from the school and says, 'Mama, can you bring me some dry clothes? I got baptized today,'" one parent told the Observer. "I said, 'WHAT?'"

That parent told the Observer that she learned her 11-year-old daughter had been baptized while she was at work on a conference call.

A few students had actually been scheduled to be baptized, Northwood Principal Renee McLamb told the Observer. But then the rest of the students felt moved to join in on the ceremony, McLamb said, adding that she didn't intend for the event to be a secret from parents.

"Truly, the Lord began to move this morning and we were so excited about what the Lord was doing. Several students had given their lives to the Lord during Spiritual Emphasis Week and they were scheduled to be baptized this morning," she said in an email to the Observer. "But the Spirit of the Lord moved and the invitation to accept the Lord and be baptized was given and the students just began to respond to the presence of the Lord."

Multiple parents complained to McLamb.

"In hindsight, we would do it differently and give the students an opportunity to contact their parents and ask permission to be baptized," the principal wrote in an email to the Observer. "We were not expecting such an overwhelming response to the message that was spoken, but as a mother I certainly can empathize with why some parents were upset."

Some parents said they were upset that they missed their child's baptism, a religious ceremony that's usually celebrated with a family gathering to witness the event.

Another parent said the school's baptism felt like it "undid the baptism that had already taken place at their church."

"This is what I think they should have done," the parent of the 11-year-old told the Observer. "They should have corralled the kids in the back of the church, another room — somewhere — and said, 'We understand your desire to get this done. We'd love for your families to be here and present with you."

"Or invitations even," she added.