“PERHAPS baptism really should have some health warnings attached to it: ‘If you are taking this step, when you go into these depths, it can be transfiguring, exhilarating, life-giving and really, very dangerous’,” Rowan Williams has written (in Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, eucharist, prayer, SPCK, 2014).
I agree with the previous archbishop: baptism should, in fact, be a transformative experience that sets the person on a lifelong journey of religion, undertaken in the corporate of fellow travellers, with Jesus as companion, guide, and destination. I hope that that is the experience for many church leaders.
I actually have to fight the temptation to feel quite downhearted as I wave goodbye to yet one more baby, surrounded by loving family and friends as they set off for the local pub. I hope to see the group in church next Sunday, but realistically expect to satisfy them next at a marriage or, more probably, a funeral.
But, as with funerals, a baptism shouldn’t be about me: it’s about God and the candidate and what happens between them. It shouldn’t be a possibility for witness, neither is it the reward given to a convert for a occupation of religion. What it’s is a present direct from God to us — free from conditions, free from obligations — which sows the primary divine seed right into a soul, there to take root and grow, or lie dormant for years, perhaps for ever.
I faced this reality gap early on in my ministry, as I stood on the front of the church, speaking the words to congregations who took photos, ate sweets, chatted to 1 one other, and checked out their watches, while I strove to speak the importance of the event. This feeling has recurred often during subsequent baptisms: that sensation of wading through spiritual porridge, each step an effort as I attempt to share the sheer magnificent mystery of all of it, but to no avail.
RECOVERING afterwards, I take comfort in what for me is the blueprint for the “best sort of baptism”: Acts 8.26-40. In this story, we meet Philip, a disciple of Jesus, but not a “big hitter” disciple: if you end up trying to recollect all twelve, Philip could be one in every of those you forget. And yet, he’s there, chosen by Jesus: inviting Nathanael to satisfy the Lord (“Come and see”, John 1.46); spreading the gospel after Jesus’s death; travelling miles of road with the intention to achieve this — because people aren’t going to return to us. In fact, in the event that they reach the church, we’ve just about sorted it. We need to go on the market and be amongst the remaining of the world. We cannot shut ourselves away in our cosy church context, wondering why we’re being passed by.
Philip asks the grand Ethiopian a matter: “Do you understand what you’re reading?” Sterling stuff! He meets the person throughout the course of his day by day life, and shows an interest in him. He asks the Ethiopian to inform him his story. That is the part that we now have to play: to hearken to people’s stories, discover where they’re on their faith journey, and begin from their experience, not ours.
PHILIP has clearly managed to speak the excellent news to his companion, who enthusiastically enquires: “What prevents me from being baptised?” Evidently, Philip agrees that there isn’t any time like the current. The pair “go down into the water”.
Nowadays, things should not as straightforward. The family could also be deterred by the associated fee of the (apparently obligatory) party, which might be almost as grand as a marriage; or by an insistence on “baptism preparation”, which in some places amounts almost to an inquisition, and in others requires attendance at long courses.
Of course, those that are involved in a baptism — whether parents, godparents, or the candidates themselves — should understand the importance of the sacrament; but we must always also consider what number of barriers we put in place, making an allowance for the warning words of Jesus concerning those that cause “little ones” to “stumble”. We also needs to be mindful of the sort of behaviour which we implement in church: do we now have the best to “forbid” using phones to a generation that moderates experience through them?
I’m aware of the wonderful lengths to which the clergy go to make their services accessible, from plastic geese within the font to tailor-made sermons involving Bluey, Paddington Bear, or Batman. Possibly not everyone will agree with the implicit theology, but surely the family must feel welcomed by these valiant efforts.
IMMEDIATELY after Philip has baptised the Ethiopian, he’s “carried away” by the Spirit. There is a definite end to his task, and we hear no more of the Ethiopian’s spiritual journey. Perhaps here lies permission to not beat ourselves up for the small percentage of baptised babies and their families who subsequently attend church. Perhaps we’re once more attempting to take control of a situation that shouldn’t be in our power. Perhaps we must always be content to “let go and let God” — ensuring that a warm welcome awaits everyone who enters the church door, but not beating ourselves up if there appears to be no obvious “follow-through”.
“Then Mummy said Jeremy James was too young to know but he could stay up for the party afterwards, and Jeremy James decided that if there was going to be a celebration afterwards possibly christenings were an excellent thing in spite of everything and Jesus knew what he was doing”— Never Say Moo to a Bull by David Henry Wilson (Pan Macmillan, 1984).
The Revd Dr Sally Welch is Vicar of the Kington Group, within the diocese of Hereford.
- It really helps to have a solid baptism policy in place, agreed with the PCC, and few exceptions permitted. Decide whether you’ll have baptisms only within the essential Sunday service, or whether you’re OK with stand-alone baptisms. If the latter, settle on the timing: about an hour after the essential service is nice, as there’s a probability that regular and baptism congregations will meet and mingle at coffee, or at the very least greet one another in passing.
- Baptism preparation, if you will have a number of families, generally is a really productive time, introducing people to 1 one other and maybe forming the premise of some recent children’s work. If baptisms are rare, nonetheless, then an off-the-cuff conversation might be essentially the most that you would be able to expect.
- Decide how you’re feeling concerning the whole thing being photographed and/or filmed, making an allowance for that today that is how many individuals moderate their experiences.
- Don’t forget that if the family is out-of-parish, it is just polite to contact their local minister to allow them to know what’s happening.
Church Support Hub has some good ideas for baptism talks and friendly prayers churchsupporthub.org
The Methodist Church Well Creative website can be good: methodistchildrencreativeministry.org
