"as covered by the opening rubric in this section; the questions in this section still remain"according to Gilly Myers, Using Common Worship: Initiation Services - A Practical Guide to the New Service (London: Church House Publishing, 2000), 87. And again Simone Jones and Phillip Tovey, contributing "Initiation Servioces" to A Companion to Common Worship, vol. 1 (ed. P. Bradshaw; SPCK, 2001) comment:
"This is an important new feature of the rite, although the act of presentation itself - but not the spoken texts that follow - was subsequently made optional in the Miscellaneous Liturgical Proposals."Candidates who are old enough to answer for themselves are asked whether they wish to be baptized which is straightforward enough. The president addresses the whole congregation, reminding us
Faith is the gift of God to his people.
The currently proposed experimental rite omits this. The words themselves are hardly difficult to understand, maybe the concept is; maybe it is felt to be inappropriate or at least unnecessary to say so here. There is no commentary to explain the reasoning behind the experimental rite.
In baptism the Lord is adding to our number
those whom he is calling.
This can be said in more straightforward language, if one feels the need, but the experimental liturgy again experiments with theological emphases as much as with words:
Today we thank God for these children/candidates
who have come to be baptized.
Christ welcomes them into his Church.
None of this is wrong, of course, but the stress is now on the coming of the candidates rather than the Lord's calling and instead of Christ doing the adding to the church, he welcomes them, again suggesting that God receives rather than initiates. The experimental rite offers an alternative along similar lines. Becoming part of God's people is not obviously God's work but something which parents and godparents are asked to help to make happen. CW continues
People of God, will you welcome these children/candidates
and uphold them in their new life in Christ?
As pointed out previously, the experimental rite omits "new life" -- "support them" suitably substitutes "uphold them" but the welcome is omitted. The answer in CW is
With the help of God, we will.
The experimental liturgy characteristically omits "with the help of God" here and in subsequent answers, presumably to shorten the service rather than because "with the help of God" is unintelligible.
At the baptism of children, the president then says to
the parents and godparents
Parents and godparents, the Church receives these children with joy.
Today we are trusting God for their growth in faith.
Will you pray for them,
draw them by your example into the community of faith
and walk with them in the way of Christ?
Combined with the next question, this may be long but is it hard to understand?
In baptism these children begin their journey in faith.
You speak for them today.
Will you care for them,
and help them to take their place
within the life and worship of Christ's Church?
The experimental liturgy combines the two paragraphs. It omits reference to the reception of the children by the church which is odd, given that the point of addressing the
congregation immediately beforehand was to secure this welcome. It also omits both "draw them by your example into the community of faith" and "help them to take their place within the life and worship of Christ's Church". This is surely way of acknowledging that in many cases we're not likely to see much of the family in church, unless a school place might depend on it, and maybe to suggest that this is all right although it will make it that much harder for the congregation to make good on its promise to support the children in their journey of faith. A conflated version which still preserves the content, except for omitting "care" which is taken as read, might look like this:
Parents and godparents, we gladly welcome these children at the beginning of their Christian journey and trust God for their growth in the faith.You speak for them today. Will you pray for them, and by your example and encouragement help them to take their place within the life and worship of Christ's Church, walking with them in the way of Christ?The answer better be, "With the help of God, we will."
