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Baptism+Godparent Preparation ST.PAUL’SEPISCOPALCHURCH reissued FALL 2016 FALL reissued (30 Oct 2013) Church SCATTERED WELCOME TO ST. PAUL’S: BAPTISM the rite of Christian Initiation 1300 N. 18th Street • Kansas City, KS 66102 • T 913.321.3535 main • T 913.321.8674 pantry • www.stpaulskck.org Godparent Preparation When a person is baptized, they become part of the Body of Christ, a larger family than the one that gave them birth. It is very important, therefore, that a person have sponsors, or godparents, “spirit guides,” who are members of the family of faith but beyond their immediate family, to walk with them on the baptismal journey every more deeply into Christ. If possible, it is a valuable communion for godparents to be in community one with another for the sake of the baptizand. Sharing their own journeys not only supports the godparents, but enables a deeper collegiality in caring for the baptized one. SHARING 1. What is the story of your Baptism? Do you remember? Who was there? Where? 2. Who have been your life mentors, “spirit guides” who loved your soul? 3. What might you have wished for in a mentor or sponsor that did not happen for you? 4. What are your hopes for your spiritual care and nurture for your baptized person? 5. How do you imagine sharing in his/her life? BASIC IDEAS FOR GODPARENTING 1. Sustaining a relationship with your godchild and his/her parents and (/or) family. 2. Remembering birthdays and holy days. 3. If you live out of town, seeing the person at least once a year if at all possible. 4. Remembering the baptism anniversary. 5. Cultivating an ability to listen and to share your own story, and making connections between godchildren’s stories and The Gospel Story. 6. Write letters, sharing your faith, offering encouragement, proclaiming your trust in God’s love and presence and guidance of your godchild. 7. Interpreting for one another and the godchild what difference being baptized makes in a person’s life, and regularly making connections between daily life and life through Christ in the Spirit. NOTE: See also: Taking the Plunge: Baptism and Parenting by Anne E. Kitch. 1 Baptism Meaning (Theology) of Baptism: According to the ecumenical consensus, expressed in the World Council of Churches Baptism, Eucharist, Ministry document (1982),1 baptism means at least these five things: 1. Participation in Christ’s Death and Resurrection (Romans 6:3-11) 2. Conversion, Pardoning, Cleansing (dying to sin, justification . 1 Peter; Hebrews; John) 3. Gift of the Spirit 4. Incorporation into the Body of Christ (1 Cor); Adoption as God’s children (Gal 4; Eph 1) 5. Sign of the Kingdom of God and the life of the world to come (John 3.5) ALSO: 6. Call to live out God’s justice in the world. Call to live out our baptism through action. 7. New Birth. Sanctification or regeneration. Waters of rebirth | renewal (Titus 3.5) Practical Understanding of Baptism: For most of the history of Christianity (1500 years), we have lived in “Christendom,” a marriage of Christian church and state and culture. The art forms, symbols, holy days, ethics, and basic structures of Christianity have formed and informed society. Therefore, infant baptism has regularly been (unconsciously) understood as becoming a normative citizen, being legitimized, being counted among the official members of church and society. When the child comes of age, then, able to choose for him/herself, the child was confirmed. Then they were able to take communion, and have a ministry. It wasn’t, however, until a person was ordained that they were often said to “join the church.” The churches’ failure in World War II has impelled a new theology of baptism. In World War II, the churches failed. It became clear that the competitive emphasis on distinguishing Baptists from Methodists and Lutherans from Roman Catholics was irrelevant in the face of the failed witness during the Nazi time of trial. The World Council of Churches was formed after the war (1948) to invite all Christian churches to turn instead toward visible unity, so that the Gospel might be proclaimed and spread to a starving world. One Church might have hope of proclaiming One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism. Further, in Germany it had become clear how easy it was to preach “the Gospel” from the Bible without ever challenging the government or social situation, and also how easy it was to remove an outspoken clergy-person from a church, leaving the people to fend for themselves. 2 In other words, it became clear that what really mattered was how vibrant the lay people were in their faith, and how they lived it in the marketplace, in the government, at home, in their jobs. The question of what it means to be baptized became a critical question. Theologians then looked to the early Church, that time when Christians were in the minority and persecuted, but faithful witnesses (Gk: martyr) even unto death, to see what baptism meant then. Conversionary Process in the Early Church In the first three centuries, if a person became interested and began to ask questions about the faith (inquiring), they were invited not to baptism but to a process of learning about and growing into faith in God through Christ by the Spirit. Before being baptized, persons spent three to five years preparing: that is, they changed their lives. They learned and began to practice Christian behaviors, including ethics (simplicity, freedom from addiction to power, sex, money, cursing), hospitality, worship, praise, and inner dispositions (e.g., gratitude, hope, trust, peace, joy). They cultivated a new sense of belonging, such that the Christian community became their primary source of identity (not, for example, their Roman citizenship). And they learned Christian belief (learning the words and actions of Jesus and controlling metaphors of the faith, such as turning swords into plowshares). Of the three, belief was the least important in the early church, for to be baptized was to join the community living in covenant with God through their union with Christ, the great high priest. To be baptized was to become part of the priestly people of God (I Peter 2:9-10).2 Understanding was good; but the way of life was most important. So before they began their preparation, being attracted by the Christians and desiring to learn more, they participated in the: Rite of Admission into the Order of Catechumens. Then the 3-5 years of Christian acquaintance began, called the CATECHUMENATE. Those preparing were called catechumens. Their lives began to change, and they met regularly with the bishop (or other catechist) and kept each other in prayer. Sometimes they changed jobs, or let go of unhealthy friendships; often they changed their attitudes and daily patterns; always their prayer lives deepened, as did their relationships with other Christians. When they were ready, they were invited to put their names in 6 to 8 weeks before Easter, since baptism occurred on Easter (sign of its meaning as participation in Christ’s death and resurrection). 3 Then they went through the: Rite of Enrollment. This was a commitment to complete the preparation and to be baptized on Easter. This was a 6-8 week period, later called LENT. After this rite, those preparing were no longer called catechuments, but candidates. Rite of Baptism which included not only the washing (“baptism”), but anointing with oil, two or three times, with laying on of hands by the bishop; first participation in the prayers of the people; and first Communion. The period following baptism was called MYSTAGOGY, when the now neophytes learned more about what had sacramentally occurred for them, and to begin their new mentored ministries and take their places among the ecclesia. ONGOING POST-BAPTISMAL CONVERSION In the current era, North America is moving away from Christendom. Christians are again in the minority in many places, and are again persecuted (e.g., it is illegal to be Christian in Pakistan). It is no longer possible to learn the Christian faith via a McGuffey Reader in public education, be taught Christian behavior by the whole town, and to learn about your church’s beliefs in 45-minutes a week of Sunday school. The culture no longer supports basic education in a Christian way of life. Much more intentionality is now (again) needed, and by a community of people. The role of parents, grandparents, and godparents in the Christian formation of a person, before and after baptism, is critical and cannot be understated. According to Tad Guzie, “the rhythm that makes life human” is lived experience, story & festivity: that is, reflecting upon life’s experiences, as they engage with The Story of one’s people, and then celebrating these meanings regularly. 3 While a 21st century life might not have the three rites of the early church, nonetheless, rites and celebrations (and laments) are needed periodically. Godparents, parents, grandparents, and clergy may be the best ones to notice when some kind of ritual or festivity is needed, and to create one which will capture a significant experience and interpret it in community towards life-giving redemption.4 COMMITMENTS 1. How will you become godsibs, a mini-community of faith among yourselves? 2. How do you imagine specifically showing God’s love to your baptizand, to establish a trusting relationship, to be there, to help him/her see Christ’s love for self and others, and to imagine ways to live as Christ in the world? How will you teach him/her to pray, to recognize the Spirit? 4 RAISING A CHILD(REN) + MEANING OF BAPTISM FOR FAMILY TODAY 1.
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