Presentation of the Candidates

There was no Presentation of the Candidates in previous baptism liturgies of the Church of England, as far as I can tell, but it is optional in Common Worship only

"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."

 

Short Preface for Baptism of Christ

I could not find any pointing for either the extended preface or the short preface for use with the Eucharistic Prayer on the Baptism of Christ, so I have attempted to point the short preface myself. I normally use the music in Common Worship: President's Edition rather than the simple chants in Music for Common Worship II: Music for the President published by RSCM but I did not want it to be too elaborate.

normal type: low note (f)
underlined: reciting note (gis)
italics: lower note (g)
bold: lowest (dis)

And  now we give you thanks for Jesus  Christ our Lord,
whose  willing submission to the way of  right-eous-ness,
is the pattern of our calling to be his people and live in his way.

UPDATE: Gordon Giles suggests that while the text is not quite long enough to fit the usual chanting method, it still works as follows (pitched as in the President's edition; mine above is pitched to my greater comfort):

And now we give you thanks

A - C              B     A      B

for Jesus Christ our Lord

A - C             B - A -   B

Whose willing sub -mis-sion- to-   the way of righ- - teousness

B - - -       -              C - A-G - G-A - C  - A -  A - B-A  - A

is the pattern of our calling to be his pe-ople 

A - C ---                                          B - A - B

and live- in his---------- way

B-   C-A - G - G - A - B - A

I shall be singing the extended preface for Epiphany-tide. I did not get a chance to do so last week because we had a carol service without Eucharist at 10.30am.

Water and words in Common Worship

I am seeking to discern what a minimalist but canonical order of service for Holy Baptism might look like under the provision in Common Worship and offer a commentary on how outsider-friendly this is. (An emergency baptism obviously uses fewer words - very few words - but if the person who has been baptised survives, the other words are used at a subsequent service.)

The greeting echoes Scripture and will be very well known to many Christians but maybe not very comprehensible to non-Christians:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all
and also with you.

The introduction to the service does not have mandatory words and could offer an opportunity to explain what baptism is about in the most accessible words of which the president is capable.

Silent prayer follows. People just settling in an unfamiliar environment and surrounded by children of various ages making various noises likely find it difficult to make much use of this and especially if prayer is unfamiliar to them as well.

The Collect offered is the following; the alternative Collect of the Day may be more accessible. Maybe the introduction above needs to focus on making this prayer more intelligible.

Heavenly Father,
by the power of your Holy Spirit
you give to your faithful people new life in the water of baptism.
Guide and strengthen us by the same Spirit,
that we who are born again may serve you in faith and love,
and grow into the full stature of your Son, Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit
now and for ever. Amen.

The Liturgy of the Word includes at least one reading from Scripture, a psalm and a Gospel Reading. This offers much opportunity to reflect but also for outsiders to get lost. The readings are normally not specifically chosen to shed light on the rite of baptism and are unlikely to be readily accessible to outsiders, unless a paraphrase or Children's version of the Bible is used. The Sermon is the one big opportunity to address outsiders about what is happening but maybe at the cost of not doing much to help the congregation hear and respond to the readings of the day.

The Liturgy of Baptism begins with the Presentation of the Candidates.This may also take place earlier, between the introduction to the service and the Collect. I am not sure whether the first statement of the rubric "The candidates may be presented to the congregation" merely alludes to its alternative placement, refers to an additional (initial, informal "hello, this is the ___ family") presentation prior to the following or is intended to mark this whole section as optional. UPDATE: The words are in fact obligatory, see the blog post on the Presentation of the Candidates. We move on to The Decision.

In baptism, God calls us out of darkness into his marvellous light.
To follow Christ means dying to sin and rising to new life with him.
Therefore I ask:

Do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God?
I reject them.

Do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil?
I renounce them.

Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour?
I repent of them.

Do you turn to Christ as Saviour?
I turn to Christ.

Do you submit to Christ as Lord?
I submit to Christ.

Do you come to Christ, the way, the truth and the life?
I come to Christ.

"Where there are strong pastoral reasons," an alternative, much shorter form may be used. Some clergy argue that there are always "strong pastoral reasons" to do so but, rightly or wrongly, the rubric seems to me to imply that the alternative form should be the exception rather than the rule. This deserves a separate blog post.

The Signing with the Cross is obligatory. (More on this in a future blog post.)

Christ claims you for his own.
Receive the sign of his cross.

But what is the sign of the cross? How will it be understood by outsiders? The following maybe seeks to stress that the cross is not an arbitrary symbol of Christianity:

Do not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified.
Fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ
against sin, the world and the devil,
and remain faithful to Christ to the end of your life.

Our faith is tied to Christ crucified. The cross is and remains a scandal, challenging us in our sin, the world in its rejection of the Saviour and the devil in his rebellion against God. Being a disciple of Christ engages one in a fight and faithfulness is not a given. Outsiders may well not get what this is all about although they might get a sense of the Christian life including a battle for loyalty to Christ. Could the wording be clearer? I think so but at the cost of brevity. "As an apprentice of Christ fight with courage. Fight whatever distracts you from Christ and separates you from God, whether within you or around you, whether by way of natural inclination or through a personal force beyond our understanding, and stick with Christ, loyal to the end of your life."

May almighty God deliver you from the powers of darkness,
restore in you the image of his glory,
and lead you in the light and obedience of Christ.
Amen.

Again, this presumes knowledge of biblical themes which outsiders might not have. But it isn't so much the language which is difficult to access but the content which means nothing much can be done short of losing the content or having an explanatory leaflet to hand. Maybe the sermon could talk about darkness as being not only a deprivation, as all evil is, but also power; about how humanity is special within creation in our vocation to reflect God's glory but spoiled and in need of restoration; and about what is so great and enlightening about the "obedience of Christ".

The Prayer over the Water may be one of the most demanding parts of the service for outsiders. The seasonal provision for Epiphany/Baptism of Christ/Trinity has more punch/coherence than the standard provision but its link between the Spirit and water would need explaining. The responsive form may be the most accessible although I'd happily lose "For your Spirit, sweeping over the waters" and "Father, accept our sacrifice of praise..." There is a logic to these but I am not confident that even most regular worshippers would be able to explain it.

Praise God who made heaven and earth,
who keeps his promise for ever.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

Father, for your gift of water in creation,
we give you thanks and praise.

For your Spirit, sweeping over the waters,
bringing light and life,
we give you thanks and praise.

For your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
baptized in the river Jordan,
we give you thanks and praise.

For your new creation,
brought to birth by water and the Spirit,
we give you thanks and praise.

For your grace bestowed upon us your children,
washing away our sins,
we give you thanks and praise.

Father, accept our sacrifice of praise;
may your holy and life-giving Spirit
move upon these waters.
Lord, receive our prayer.

Restore through them the beauty of your creation,
and bring those who are baptized
to new birth in the family of your Church.
Lord, receive our prayer.

Drown sin in the waters of judgement,
anoint your children with power from on high,
and make them one with Christ
in the freedom of your kingdom.
Lord, receive our prayer.

For all might, majesty, dominion and power are yours,
now and for ever.
Alleluia. Amen.

The Profession of Faith is the Apostles' Creed in question and answer form, except "where there are strong pastoral reasons" to use the shorter, alternative Profession of Faith. This illustrates the contemporary problem in a nutshell. For many, many years in our region most people would have known this Creed by heart whether they assented to it or not. Now most don't. Should we therefore keep it to ourselves? Maybe not.

The actual Baptism takes place with the words

N, I baptize you
in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

and water, of course, preferably not too little. Again there is no escaping the fact that Christians believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, however hard this is to comprehend. The signing of the cross can take place now instead of earlier, but in this case different words are given, words which highlight the anointing rather than the sign, introducing another concept which would be unfamiliar to outsiders.

The Commission has words provided but they are not mandatory; "similar words" could be used instead. There are no proscribed words for the Prayers of Intercession either. 

The Welcome is reasonably straightforward.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism:
N and N, by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body.
We welcome you into the fellowship of faith;
we are children of the same heavenly Father;
we welcome you.

The Peace is introduced with these or other suitable words

We are all one in Christ Jesus.
We belong to him through faith,
heirs of the promise of the Spirit of peace.

The peace of the Lord be always with you
and also with you.

The Blessing might be this or another suitable one

The God of all grace,
who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus,
establish, strengthen and settle you in the faith;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.

The Dismissal

Go in the light and peace of Christ.
Thanks be to God.