Rector’s Reflections
Thursday 16th January 2025
Baptism in Today’s Church: Time for a Change?
In the current series of reflections, we have been looking at the traditional understanding of the role of baptism within the life and practice of the Church of England, and the extent to which this traditional understanding has become increasingly irrelevant. So what are the options going forward? What might be the role of baptism in today’s Church?
A first option might be to face up to the current reality, and abandon the idea that Baptism and Confirmation are normative in the life and practice of the Church of England.
Yes, this is a radical option to take. Yes, it goes against what has been the usual practice in the Western Church since at least the 4th Century AD. But Church practice and doctrine has always been evolving. At one stage, indeed within living memory, the Church of England did not ordain women as priests or consecrate them as bishops. This has changed, and the Church has not collapsed. Church tradition should be appreciated, but it should not be a straight-jacket to the ongoing work of the Spirit.
The suggestion here is not that Baptism and Confirmation disappear completely. It is simply that they are no longer normative. They become optional expressions of Christian belief and practice.
I am aware that this will involve some changes to Church Law, but there is no reason why Church Law cannot be changed, should there be a desire to do so. It would be up to General Synod and the House of Bishops. It might also require an Act of Parliament. But if there is a will to change the law, it can happen.
But what of the “sacramental system”, the belief that our communion with God in and through Jesus Christ is initiated and sustained through participation in the sacraments of the Church, especially Baptism and Holy Communion? The answer to this might be that there is nothing to stop Holy Communion continuing to have an important role in the Church. The only thing that will change is the expectation that participation in Holy Communion is limited to baptized members of the Church. And in any event, when was the last time that the “sacramental system” was actually enforced within the typical Church of England parish? It might still be relevant in a High Church parish, but in many other churches traditional sacramental teaching has been watered down over the years to such an extent that it hardly exists at all.
And there is a further consideration. One danger of the traditional sacramental teaching is that it can lead to an almost magical view of the power and efficacy of the sacraments. I would add that trained theologians would say that the traditional theology does not in any way support the view that the sacraments operate in a “magical” way, and the trained theologians are undoubtedly right. However, for those who are not theologically trained, there is much in the way baptism and communion have traditionally been experienced that might encourage the view that these sacraments are some form of Christian magic and the priest is some type of spiritual magician. The priest utters the magic words and hey presto! something or someone changes in some mysterious way. I hasten to add that this has never been the official theology of the Church, but it would be true to say that many ordinary churchgoers and some clergy have behaved as if the sacraments do indeed operate as some type of upmarket magic. Making baptism and confirmation optional might well encourage a more well-grounded and orthodox theological understanding of what a sacrament actually is, and how God is at work it in and through it. Making baptism and confirmation optional might well have the effect of removing these sacraments from the world of custom and magic, and placing them firmly where they belong: in the life of the Risen Lord Jesus, lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.
What do you think? Is this too radical an option? There are plenty of other options too, which are equally interesting but probably less controversial. We shall look at one these in tomorrow’s reflections.