Dear Friends in Christ,
We are preparing to open registration for our three one-day United at the Font: Partnering for the Future events this fall. As I wrote in our grant application to Wartburg Seminary, these three locations were chosen in conversation with ecumenical partners. However, I see no reason why the entire synod cannot join in on the learning and growing.
I love this paragraph from the 1982 World Council of Churches’ document Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry:
“Christian baptism is rooted in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, in his death and in his resurrection. It is incorporation into Christ, who is the crucified and risen Lord; it is entry into the New Covenant between God and God’s people. Baptism is a gift of God, and is administered in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. St Matthew records that the risen Lord, when sending his disciples into the world, commanded them to baptize (Matt. 28:18–20). The universal practice of baptism by the apostolic Church from its earliest days is attested in letters of the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, and the writings of the Fathers. The churches today continue this practice as a rite of commitment to the Lord who bestows his grace upon his people.”
Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry is foundational to all of the ELCA’s full communion agreements with other denominations, and even though it is over 40 years old, it remains an excellent piece to study, especially for those of us in the Mountain West who are always swimming in ecumenical waters.
With this newsletter column we are inviting all of you to engage this fall in the United at the Font pre-work, whether you’ll be joining us in Moses Lake, Clarkston, Pocatello or not. Note that two of the following documents have links to PDFs and two have links to websites.
Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry (World Council of Churches)
The Value of Rural Churches and Fresh Hope by Jennie Birkholz
In addition to the above, another good resource for deepening our understanding of baptism is ELCA Churchwide’s Living Our Baptism – 5 Bible Studies on the Five Gifts of Discipleship.
Finally, we encourage all ministry sites to make Affirmation of Baptism by the Assembly part of All Saints Sunday this fall. (We know this is already a tradition for some of you). Watch for a special Affirmation of Baptism liturgy to be sent out mid-October.
Why revisit the promises made by God and the promises we make in Holy Baptism? Here’s the opening paragraph of Article 20 from the social statement Faith and Civic Life, adopted this summer by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly:
“All the baptized must wrestle with the relationship between their faith, the church, and civic life as they live out their responsibilities to “care for others and the world God made, and work for justice and peace.”34 This church’s involvement in civic life is primarily borne out in the lives of its members as they embody discipleship in their communities and relationships. Consistent with the testimony of the Scriptures and the Lutheran tradition, the ELCA is clear in its teaching that all Christians share in the calling to civic and political participation. This church strongly affirms this shared calling of all the baptized.”
-Bishop Meggan Manlove