Many current practices and assumptions in our congregations, including some of the ways we conduct our worship services, were developed during the 16th and 17th centuries. Those practices and assumptions have served the Church for a long time; however, we now live in a very different world. Some label it post-modern. Some describe it as a post-Christian society. Whatever label is given, it is evident that many of the structures that worked previously are no longer functioning well, neither in society nor in our churches. Many people respond with feelings of alienation, cynicism and hopelessness. Most congregations are struggling with basic issues: who are we, and what we are called to do?

During the years when the Church enjoyed its position as a dominant force in the culture, we did not seem to need to give much attention to the ways in which we sustained our identity and place in the world. However, as the society around us moves farther and farther from its Christian roots, the Church finds itself needing to be more intentional about what it is (identity), what it is called to do (mission), and what practices will enable it to live out both its identity and mission faithfully and courageously.

The identity and mission of the Church are rooted in the sacrament of baptism. When we practice baptism not only as an action we do in worship, but also as a "way of life" that shapes and forms the disciples of Jesus Christ, we tap into baptism's power to transform our congregations into communities that carry God's hope for the world. Recovering and renewing the fullness of our baptism is critical to the Church's mission in the world-a mission marked by hope, imagination, courage, energy and freedom.

As part of a practicum for a Doctor of Ministry degree, I have been examining the connection between our practices in and around baptism and the Church's mission and identity as a community of hope. This winter, five groups in four different congregations helped me out by working through a study booklet I had prepared, examining their baptismal practices and their convictions about the meaning of baptism. I want to share with you two of the insights that came in the feedback the groups provided, and invite you to join the conversation.

For Christian communities, the primary place where identity and hope are given and formed is in corporate worship. When the symbols and actions of our worship are rich and full, they shape us more deeply. The good news is that many congregations are recovering and practicing that richness in their baptism services. The orders of service in the 1976 Service Book for the United Church of Canada included very little symbolism: sprinkling water on infants and children; sprinkling or pouring water over the head of adult candidates followed by the "laying on of hands." These days congregations are reaching back into the church's tradition (or following suggestions in Celebrate God's Presence) and including such actions as anointing with oil, lighting a baptismal candle and presenting the newly baptized person to the congregation.

However, one of the study groups pointed out that sometimes the symbols and actions we have added to the service of baptism have little meaning to the people in the pews. In some cases, the actions are merely "cute," having little biblical or traditional grounding or even memory as to why they are done: it's just "something we do."

As one writer warns, "when, in practice, the symbols have shriveled and the ritual has ceased to draw or surprise us, when the meaning… has been hidden or forgotten, when the manner of the …leaders has become the manner of entertainers," it becomes difficult to make the connection between our worship and "the aching and complex needs of the … beginning of the twenty-first [century]" (Gordon Lathrop, Holy Things, p. 4).

When done clearly and intentionally and with integrity, the symbols and actions of baptism can strengthen us to serve God's mission in the world. Members of the study group were invited, for a week, to imitate Martin Luther's practice of making the sign of the cross on his forehead while saying, "I am a baptized person" when he was confronted with challenging situations. For a variety of reasons, some people felt uncomfortable doing this. However, others found it a very powerful practice (even if they did not literally sign themselves but only thought it). It reminded them that they had been claimed by a good and gracious God in their baptism; that God was in charge; that the Holy Spirit was guiding them.

For some, the practice functioned as a reminder that they were representing Christ in their relationships with others. A few people continued this practice during the six weeks of the study and commented at the end that doing so gave them the sense that, whatever else was happening, they were in the midst of holiness and hopefulness.

For most of us in mainline denominations, our experience of baptism has been that it primarily is done in infancy. Baptism is seen both in the community and among many church members as a welcoming ceremony, celebrating a baby's birth. When congregations try to give it more integrity according to its biblical meaning, some people perceive them saying, "You're not welcomed. You are rejected."

Congregations recognize this and have tried in a variety of ways to navigate between the expectations expressed in the baptismal promises that the baptized will participate in the life of the church, the feelings of congregational members who are asked to make promises for children they might never see again but who also don't want to be seen as rejecting and judging a baby, and parents who ask for their child to be baptized.

In whatever manner congregations have tried to settle that dilemma, there remains pervasive dissatisfaction. This is true both for those congregations who have tried to give more integrity to their baptismal practices and for those who have emphasized the unconditional welcome and love of God. Either way, they are frustrated that people still show up for baptism and don't follow through.

Sometimes, people who were baptized as infants have experienced a deepening of personal faith as teenagers or adults. They want to give some public expression to this so they ask about being re-baptized. The Church traditionally has not re-baptized people because that would imply God did not do a good enough job the first time. However, if we are going to recover baptism's power to form us into missional communities of hope, we need to find ways to make baptism function as more than a one-time event for children.

Services that include a re-affirmation of baptismal vows are appropriate and offer opportunities for adults to claim their baptism as an ongoing metaphor that shapes their lives in the world. As well, in our current context, where the culture is no longer helping the Church to make Christians, "discipleship" training takes on more critical importance in the shaping and forming of our congregations.

That, very briefly, describes some of the things I am learning about the intersection of baptism and hope. I am interested in hearing your reflections about the practice of baptism in your congregation and the ways in which this powerful sacrament shapes your congregation into a community that witnesses to God's hope in the world. Email me at cjerrett@cogeco.ca.

Rev. Christine Jerrett ministers with the congregation of Shiloh Inwood United Church in Lambton Presbytery. She is midway through a Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia in the "gospel and culture" track.aptism and Hope