Durham E-Theses Meaning-Making for Mothers in the North East of England: an Ethnography of Baptism FENTON, ALLISON How to cite: FENTON, ALLISON (2017) Meaning-Making for Mothers in the North East of England: an Ethnography of Baptism , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12045/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Allison Jane Fenton Meaning-Making for Mothers in the North East of England: an Ethnography of Baptism Abstract The purpose of this study has been primarily to explore the meaning of baptism to mothers in the North-East. It also aims to address the situation in which despite a decline in regular congregations the church receives a significant number of requests for baptisms amongst families who rarely return to church attendance after the baptism. To explore these issues the thesis has reviewed the available literature on baptism, and adopted several methods to ‘hear the voices’ of mothers and parish clergy. These include participant observation, interviewing, questionnaires, and reflexivity. Chapter 2 looks at the story of the research, situating it within a history of infant baptism and describing how I did the research. Chapters 3 – 5 summarise and describe the data from focus groups, the questionnaire and from conversations with mothers and with clergy. Chapters 6 – 8 offer an analysis of the data; Chapters 9 – 10 offer a theological interpretation of the data; and Chapter 11 highlights some implications of the research for the Church. While much has been written on the rite of Baptism from a historical, theological and ecclesiological perspective, there has been little work done on the perceptions of the mothers who participate in the rite. I argue that Baptism is as meaningful for mothers as it is for the clergy as connections are made to the past and to the future, to the gathered community and to God. I explore the christening as an opportunity for mothers to perform motherhood, displaying themselves and their children as ‘respectable’. I interpret this as their ascribing social and familial identity to the child and developing their own family (howsoever constructed) narratives. Theoretically speaking, I argue that, in Rappaport’s terms, the Ultimate Sacred Postulate for these mothers is family, with the child representing renewed hope for the perpetuation of that family. This thesis exposes the challenge faced by a mission-focussed Church, seeking to halt decline through growing congregations, when faced with women (and, indeed, families) whose sense of belonging and desire for God’s blessing does not lead to regular (or even occasional) commitment to a congregation. ii Meaning–making for Mothers in the North East of England: an Ethnography of Baptism Allison Jane Fenton Doctor of Theology and Ministry Department of Theology and Religion Durham University 2016 69,530 Words ii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introducing the Research 1:1 Research Rationale 1 1:2 Practical Theology 4 1:3 Qualitative Methodology 6 1:4 Ethnography 8 1.5 Reflexivity 9 1.6 Recruiting Participants 13 1:7 Hearing into Speech 15 1.8 Conclusion 18 Chapter 2: Locating the Research and Methods 2:1 How I Locate my Work in Broader Work 19 2:2 Locating the Research within the Story of Infant Baptism 22 2:3 Locating the Language: Baptism or Christening? 26 2:4 Locating the Research within the Church Setting 28 a. Baptisms in the Church of England 28 b. The Diocese of Durham 29 c. The Diocese of Newcastle 30 d. The Parishes 30 i. St Aidan 31 ii. St Bede 31 iii. St Cuthbert 32 iv. St Elfleda 32 v. St Ebba 33 i vi. St Hilda 33 2:5 Data Collection: The story of how I did the research 34 2:6 Interpreting the Data: Finding the stories 38 2:7 Ethical Issues in the Research 40 2.8 Conclusion 42 Chapter 3: The Initial Study and Questionnaire 3:1 The Initial Phase 45 a. Christening or Baptism? 46 b. The Tea Afterwards 46 c. The ‘Piece’ or ‘Amiss’ 48 d. The Dress 48 e. Gratitude 49 f. Churching 49 g. The Family 50 h. The New Wedding 50 i. Part of the Church 51 j. Blessing 51 k. Godparents 52 l. Superstitions 52 3:2 The Questionnaire Results 54 a. Part One 55 b. Part Two 67 3:3 Conclusion 74 ii Chapter 4: Conversations with Mothers 77 4:1 Claire 79 4:2 Daniela 81 4:3 Emily 83 4:4 Gemma 86 4:5 Jane 88 4:6 Julia 91 4:7 Laura 93 4:8 Linda 95 4:9 Lisa 97 4:10 Liz 100 4:11 Sandra 102 4:12 Sarah 104 4:13 Tracey 106 4:14 Conclusion 107 Chapter 5: Conversations with Clergy 109 5:1 Garry, St Aidan 110 5:2 Helen, St Elfleda 113 5:3 Janet, St Ebba 116 5:4 Mark, St Cuthbert 120 5:5 Rob, St Bede 124 5:6 Sheila, St Hilda 127 5:7 Analysis of Interviews 131 a. Mediators of Meaning 132 b. Developing Relationship 134 c. Breaking down Barriers 137 iii 5.8 Conclusion 140 Chapter 6: Identity and Belonging in Baptism 141 6:1 Identity 142 6:2 Naming 145 6:3 Belonging 146 6:4 Belonging to a Church 149 6:5 Belonging to a Family 153 6.6 The Performance of Family 156 a. The Paradigmatic Scene 157 6.7 Godparents 158 6:8 Identity Depletion 162 6:9 Conclusion 164 Chapter 7: Material Identity, The Christening Gown 167 7.1 The Christening Gown in the Early Church 168 7.2 The Christening Gown as Symbol 169 7.3 The Meaning of the Christening Gown for Mothers 171 7.4 The Christening Gown and the Wedding Dress 173 7.5 The Christening Gown as Sacred 176 7.6 The Christening Gown as Symbol of Family 178 7.7 The Christening Gown and Identity 181 7.8 Conclusion 182 Chapter 8: Being Respectable and the Performance of Motherhood 185 8.1 Respectability 186 8.2 Doing the Right Thing 187 iv 8.3 The Performance of Motherhood 194 8.4 Respectability and Symbolic Capital 200 8.5 Conclusion 202 Chapter 9: Baptism as Blessing 205 9.1 Blessing as Promise 205 9.2 The Promises made in Baptism 208 9.3 Blessing as Hope 211 9.4 Blessing as Thanksgiving 213 9.5 The Gift of Children 216 9.6 The Blessings of Success 218 9.7 Flourishing 221 9.8 Natality and Flourishing 222 9.9 Blessing as Encountering God’s Love 224 9.10 Conclusion 226 Chapter 10: Folk Religion 227 10.1 Ordinary Theology 228 10.2 Folk Religion 229 10.3 Folk Religion and Christianity 230 10.4 Folk Religion in Staithes 233 10.5 Blurred Boundaries 236 10.6 The Enchanted World 237 10.7 Conclusion 239 v Chapter 11: Concluding Comments and Ministerial Outcomes 241 11:1 Concluding Comments 241 11:2 Ministerial Outcomes 245 a. Words 245 b. Blessing 247 c. Preparation 248 d. Materiality 249 e. Celebration 251 f. Belonging 252 11.3 Epilogue 253 Appendix 1: Information Sheets and Participant Agreements 255 Appendix 2: The Questionnaire 259 Appendix 3: Questionnaire Results Data Summary 266 Appendix 4: Christening Photographs 269 Bibliography 270 vi Table of Figures Fig. 2.1: The Proportion of Live Births Baptised into the Church of England in 2013 28 Fig. 3.1: The Number of Guests 56 Fig. 3.2: Meeting the Vicar 57 Fig. 3.3: Approaching the Vicar 57 Fig 3.4: The Number of Godparents 57 Fig. 3.5: The Choice of Godparents 58 Fig. 3.6: Gifts Received 59 Fig. 3.7: Who were the Gifts from? 60 Fig. 3.8: The Difference Christening made for the Mother 62 Fig. 3.9: The Difference Christening Made for the Child 63 Fig. 3.10: The Difference Christening Made for the Family 64 Fig 3.11: What was Special about the Day 64 Fig. 3.12: The Means of Contact with Church after the Christening 66 Fig. 3.13: Preference for the Word ‘Baptism’ or ‘Christening’ 73 vii Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. viii Acknowledgements I am indebted to those who have participated in my research, none of whom I can name here: those clergy who engaged with my questions; those who shared their experiences in the questionnaire; the mothers who shared the stories of their children’s christenings; the Mothers’ Union members who welcomed me and told me stories. Without their generosity this thesis would not have been possible. I am grateful to my academic supervisors Prof Douglas Davies and Dr Jocelyn Bryan for their support and commitment over the seven years this project has taken.