Baffling Baptism or Baptism-lite?
This font made c. 1500 is one of the treasures of St John the Baptist church, Snape, Norfolk, England. From the angle of my photograph it bars the way to the main body of the church. I was thinking that baptism is about welcoming people at the beginning of a journey with God, but the way the church presents baptism can be a barrier to starting that journey. The Church of England Common Worship service of Holy Baptism is rich in biblical and theological images, possibly too rich. In my experience most parishes generally use the simplest forms allowable within this provision. I really enjoy baptising children and adults. But almost every time I long for a simple 'Prayer over the Water' the length of a short collect and not 25 lines long. But the only alternatives to the 'Prayer over the Water' are even longer and more complex. There's now hope for revised material, thanks to yesterday's decision at General Synod. A few weeks ago the Daily Mail suggested the ...