Craving Baptism

It occurred to me yesterday that I haven’t baptized a baby in seven and a half months.  I haven’t baptized an adult either but yesterday, I became strangely overwhelmed with the reality that I may never baptize a baby again.  While I am still in ministry, I am no longer serving a specific congregation as their pastor.

One of the things I did as a parish pastor after I baptized a child was give the  parents a letter to save for the child to open on his/her 10th birthday.  The letter was about the baptism day and how I hoped that – now that he/she was much older now and able to make some of her/his own decisions,  that one of those decisions would be about trusting God.

Over the weekend, I received an excellent surprise:  a letter written to me by a child I baptized about nine years ago.  It was penned in perfect cursive on lined notebook paper from a ten year old.   “I am in the fourth grade and I am happy,”  she wrote.  I will treasure this letter forever.

Let’s be clear:  pastors might hold the babies and speak the words of baptism and splash the water, but it’s the church that baptizes people.  But I have to admit that I loved being that person who held the babies and introduced them to the community of people who would minister to them.

I now serve many congregations and most of them have pastors.  Many of these congregations – the small ones with older members – have not celebrated a baptism in years.  These congregations bemoan the fact that they “don’t have any young families.”  But baptizing babies is not the only – or even the most meaningful –  initiation into the faith.

Growing congregations have a growing number of adult baptisms. Yes, they also baptize babies, but the sign that a church is thriving is when people who have not known God come to know God for the first time as adults.  They find an authentic circle of spiritual friends and they realize that following Jesus is the best way to live.

Most of our churches trade members as people move from one neighborhood to another, from one state to another.  But the sign that a church is making new disciples is that adults are choosing to be baptized.  I crave this for the church.

Many of our congregations offer stirring music in worship or excellent children’s programs or impressive local and global mission projects.  There are congregations that do not offer any of those things.  But it doesn’t matter.

We are called first and foremost to follow Jesus.  Those communities which are inspiring this kind of discipleship are truly Being the Church for the 21st Century.

Again, I crave this even more than I miss looking into a baby’s eyes and saying, “Welcome to this ministry.”