Baptizing David Thomas

Although I’m not generally a fan of liturgical innovations, my parish has made one of the best innovations to a liturgical rite that I’ve ever seen. The rite of Baptism of an infant has the priest sign the child with the cross and invite parents and godparents to do the same. Then, the congregation, together with parents and godparents, recites the Creed or renews their baptismal promises. But here’s what this church has done. After the parents and godparents sign the child, the priest invites all the children forward to sign the child with the cross as the community “teaches him the faith that we share.”

For five years I’ve been a part of this parish and I’ve thought “good way to get kids involved, that’s nice.” But this Sunday (July 23), I got to watch it up close, because my godson DT was baptized there. His dad squatted down with him and held him there, as his mom, his godfather, the priest and I looked on from right there above the swarm of children with their reaching hands, and the congregation watched from afar, reciting the faith that unites us.

Many of the children carefully, reverently traced a cross on his forehead. Or, rather, they would have had DT not been squirming so much. If he got any actual crosses, they were made of rather squiggly lines. Some of the kids didn’t really seem to try; they basically patted him on the head. One even seemed to more or less swat him in the face, though thankfully not very hard. Several—partly due to their having, understandably, the fine motor skills of toddlers, and partly again due to his movement—pretty much poked him in the eye, or seemed like they were coming close.

Up close, I decided, the swarm is a little scary. I really thought he might lose an eye. I thought his dad might start blocking a few of the shots, or that maybe his mom would intervene. But they didn’t. They surrendered their son to the swarm, as they would moments later surrender him to the waters of baptism, and to Christ and his church. Not a bad metaphor, as it turns out. Because baptism isn’t just about being claimed as Christ’s own, it’s also about becoming part of the Church, the people of God with all of their warbles and imperfections. Even the ones who seem to be trying to poke you in the eye.

Baptism is an amazing thing. “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Pet 2:10). What a wondrous thing that the Christian community, through God’s grace, has the power to claim someone as a disciple of Christ with nothing but water and the name of the Triune God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Once it did not, but now the people of God includes DT. DT, Christ and his church have claimed you as their own. You are ours, and we are yours. Welcome to the family.