Question:

I grew up in the Baptist church and married my Episcopalian husband. I like our church and respect our Priest. Needless to say, I was in culture shock at first, but have really enjoyed learning about the church's beliefs.

We are having a baby in August and I had a few questions. First, what does the dedication mean in the church? Does that mean that the baby is Christian at that point, or does it mean that we are "dedicated" to helping this baby find a relationship with Christ? Why is it done so early (in the first month at our church)in the child's life instead of when the child can understand what's going on?

Answer:

Brace yourself for more culture shock! We don't "dedicate" babies. We *baptise* them. Dedication ceremonies are something adopted by those churches who don't practice infant baptism but recognise that parents have a natural urge to celebrate their babies birth in some special way with their spiritual community (and it gives them a chance to use that antique christening gown without compromising their beliefs by having an actual christening).

"Christening" is an old-fashioned word for "baptism". Unlike the Baptist belief that Baptism *follows* conversion, we believe that Baptism is part of the *process* of conversion. We believe that *God* takes action in baptism, and that this is the means by which a person is adopted into God's family - we become "His by adoption and grace". At the moment of his baptism, your child is received into the household of god, and shares with us in His eternal priesthood. In short, yes, he's a Christian -- your little brother, as well as your son.

We baptise infants for three basic reasons.

First, it is appropriate to the nature of the sacrament. Since it is God that is acting, our competence and understanding are irrelevant. We are no more fit to influence God's actions than is a new-born babe; so there is no reason not to baptise a new-born babe.

Second, it is scriptural. Scripturally, there is no explicit reference to baptising infants, but neither is there any specific reference to infants being excluded when someone was baptised "him and all his household". You can bet those households included infants - remember that servants, slaves and extended family were all part of a New-Testament era household, and that birth-control hadn't been invented yet. And the actual word in Scripture is *all*, not "all except a few".

Third, it is the unbroken practice of the Church. Since there has been no time in the available post-Apostolic record that infant baptism has not been an accepted practice, and since the evidence of the Apostolic record in Acts is that it was practiced, we have no reason to believe that infant baptism was ever rejected by the church.

The norm for baptism is still the baptism by full immersion of adult converts. Full immersion is a powerful symbol - and, my dramatic sense as a liturgist forces me to emphasise, a desirable symbol. But immersion is not essential; if it were we could not baptise converts in the Sahara during time of drought, for example. Where necessary baptism by pouring water on the catechumen's head has always been allowed, although immersion is preferred. Regrettably, immersion is so immensely less convenient, that many catholic Christians have never witnessed baptism by immersion and aren't even aware that it is the normative practice. (Normative doesn't mean usual, it means the most proper standard of practice from which all other practices are derived). Ancient and mediaeval churches have lovely baptisteries that illustrate that norm for us modern Christians. Even Saint Paul's in London, which is a relatively late construction, has a baptismal font that you could drown a baby elephant in <g>. Don't know if they ever use it now, though. The Reverend Sally Boyles (whom I know from her earlier ministery in my city) at her church in Toronto is said to baptise babies by full immersion (swooshing their little heads quickly through the water so they don't choke, I presume), just as is normative for adult converts.

Your child, however, will never have the experience of being an adult convert. That is a fact. He will grow in understanding of the faith and in the love of God because those are the essence of his home; he will be steeped in them from his first breath. To pretend that the step from childish faith to adult faith is a conversion is quite a stretch. Take it from an adult convert - I was raised athiest. Infant baptism recognizes your child's reality as adult baptism recognised my reality. When your child is ready to take up his own lay ministry as an adult believer, it will be appropriate for him to seek Confirmation. The Bishop will lay hands on his head and pray for an increase of the Holy Spirit in his life. That is how we recognise the still-significant step from childish faith to adult witness.

Regards, Pamela