The baptismal font is the womb from which Christians are born. As physical birth happens only once, so does our spiritual birth. Although fonts originated as part of the furnishings for cathedrals, today virtually every Christian church building maintains a font to facilitate the welcome of new members.
Fonts have many traditional shapes.
Some are round, recalling a mother's womb. Some are cruciform, showing our sharing in the death of Christ. Others are tomb-shaped for the same reason. The font may be placed in one of many traditional locations. Some are in a room to themselves.