THE BISHOP'S LETTER

Bishop Godfrey Fryar

June 2008

Dear Friends,

Recently I baptised two young men in the parish of Gladstone.

Every time I do this and move seamlessly on to confirmation and the Eucharist I am reminded of the original unity of the sacraments of Christian initiation, where everything happened at once.

Through time, baptism became separated from confirmation when, with the growth of the Church, bishops found it necessary to delegate baptism to the priests or deacons, and people had to wait for the bishop to complete the rite when he could get there. When the early persecutions ended in the fourth century there was less risk in public profession of Christ, and more and more children were baptised, with a corresponding decrease in the number of adults. In an increasingly secular Australia we have now reached a point where this is slowly changing, and there is a definite increase in the number of adult baptisms.

The prayer book reminds us:

"Baptism is the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ."

While adult baptism has the advantage of revealing Christian initiation in its fullness, reflection on this can result in some confusion which can lead some people to think that their own infant baptism does not in fact count, and should just be regarded as "Christening", some quaint form of blessing for children, but of no effect as far as discipleship and their relationship with Christ is concerned.

Such thoughts can lead some people to consider re-baptism, if such a thing were possible. The presupposition for this is that baptism depends on us, being the right age, having the right quantity of water, and the right amount of faith!

"Baptism is the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ."

While faith is very important both for those who come to the water later in life, and around those who are brought earlier, there is no way to measure the quantity of faith required!

To act as if every box must be ticked perfectly to make baptism work is the ultimate form of ritualism and doctrine of salvation by works, and implies that the effect of the sacrament depends entirely on us.

Beginning and end, baptism is a gift of grace. It really does not matter when it happens in life. When you are 'born again' in baptism you are 'born again' and begin the pilgrim journey to heaven.

It is theologically impossible to be re-baptised!

Yours in Christ,
+Godfrey