| Letters from the week of 14 - 20 September 2015
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Practising Open Baptism
One of the first lessons I learned about baptism (as a young priest in the 80s in my first parish), was that I could make it easy or hard.
This, I came to realise, said more about me than about the welcoming nature of God and the Church.
In my second parish ( a mortgage belt parish) we often had to baptise 4 or more babies at the principal Mass on a Sunday. A wise priest said to me cryptically perhaps you could be both rigorous and open. I struggled to understand. Again this says more about me than about those seeking Baptism. But I grew into understanding this wisdom.
Now, the last Baptism I did was my granddaughter whose parents are Baptists. Their particular brand of Baptists appear to have got over arbitrary rules, so there was no problem about infant baptism.
We had guitars and Hillsong music. And Poppy was baptised with full Anglo Catholic ceremonial—with 75% of the congregation being Baptists.
She was Chrismated with proper oil!
By her parents, Godparents, Grandparents, Great Grandmother, the Baptist Pastor, the Churchwarden, two priests of opposite genders—one of whom is gay. We used English, Magyar (one of our family native languages—the Hungarian language) and in Latin—the language of the Universal Church.
The Baptists seemed to love it.
Even my atheist brother in law was moved by how Christian the service was.
Baptism should be fulsome, fun, meaningful and joyful
This I think is what Anglo Catholicism at its best has always been good at
Stephen Clark
St Mary Magdalene's, Adelaide
Adelaide, South Australia
frstephenclark@gmail.com
14 September 2015
For your amusement, on baptism: http://frsparky.net/a/223.htm.
Christopher Heath
Christchurch New Zealand
frsparky@xtra.co.nz
14 September 2015
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