The Baptismal Font in the church

   

 Recently, there appeared in the Narthex of our church a new "furnishing".  It is not such a large furnishing, although it is decidedly weighty.  It appears to be constructed of stone, marble by appearance, and is a bowl-shaped form on a pedestal.  It intrigued me because as I have traveled and visited some very old places of worship (in England, so in saying old I am reaching back 1,000 years or more), I have observed a similar object.  I have learned the object is a "Baptismal Font", and it kind of intrigued me as to what is the history of the Font and why is it placed in the entrance way (or as we say, the Narthex).

In the church, baptism is one of the two sacraments we observe (along with Holy Communion),  In a sacrament, God uses common elements -- in this case water -- as a means of divine grace.  Baptism is administered by the church as the Body of Christ.  It is an act of God through the grace of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.

So what is this piece of furniture, this Baptismal Font and why is it here?  To discover the answer to that involves a brief journey back into Christian history.  Some of the oldest baptismal fonts to be discovered are actually in the catacombs of Rome.  When Christians were being persecuted by the government, outdoor public baptisms became dangerous.  So the early church in Rome, in order to protect its members, met in secret and these secret meetings required private practices for the rituals of the church.  Some of the baptisteries were shallow reservoirs scooped out to collect natural spring water.

Baptismal Font in Wesley's
Chapel, London

As Christianity gained wider acceptance, baptisms returned to the public eye.  Fast forward 1,000 years and baptismal fonts were moved outside the actual church itself, sometimes to separate buildings called a baptistery. In some places such as Florence, only people already baptized into the church were allowed inside a great cathedral. As a result, baptisms occurred outside or in the baptistery.  Time moves forward and we see the baptismal font begin to appear inside the church, at first in the back where baptisms still occurred before "entering the church".  We now see many churches with baptismal fonts brought to the front of the church as part of the platform area of worship.

So today at our church, we have two baptismal fonts.  The stone one at the back as we step into the

church and the one near at the front that we use when we conduct baptisms.  Recently, I took a class in leading worship.  As a part of the class. our instructor presented us with an interesting greeting.  As we stepped into the class, she had prepared a bowl of water and pointing to it said, "Remember your baptism and give thanks to God."  With that, she indicated we were to dip our fingers into the bowl.

Baptismal Font of Wesley's Chapel.  Notice the chains of
bondage broken by the cross on the inner stone.

This isn't a new practice, for I was instantly reminded of watching Roman Catholics enter the sanctuary for worship where they would dip their fingers into a baptistery font and then make the sign of the cross.  Only recently with pastor Adlene Kufarimai during that worship class, did this practice begin to make sense.

Of our two sacraments, baptism in a singular event.  Holy Communion we observe oat least monthly (in our church) and on other certain occasions.  While we may observe and in some situations have a part in the baptism ceremony for another fellow believer, baptism in the life of a Christian is s singular event.  However, much like our birth into this moral world, we would be foolish to never recall our baptism in the body of Christ.  St. Augustine of Hippo puts baptism into perspective when in an Easter address he said:

Such is the power of this sacrament: it is a sacrament of new life which begins here and now with the forgiveness of all past sins, and will be brought to completion in the resurrection of the dead. You have been buried with Christ by baptism into death in order that, as Christ has risen from the dead, you also may walk in newness of life.