Revised Baptism Vows are "Dumbed Down".

The Church of England has - controversially - rewritten the Christening Ceremony by removing the section where parents have to promise to "repent sins" and "reject the devil".

The changes to the centuries-old tradition have been endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who officiated at the Christening of Prince George - though I'm not sure if the new version of the service was used at that ceremony.

The new version is being tested in more than 1000 parishes (is St Michael's one of the pilots?).

In the original wording of the ceremony the vicar asks parents: "Do you reject the devil and rebellions against God?" to which the reply is: "I reject them". They are also asked to repent the sins that separate us from God and neighbour.

In the new ceremony, parents and godparents are asked to "reject evil and all its many forms, and all its empty promises".

Michael Nazir-Ali, the former bishop of Rochester, writing in the Mail on Sunday has dismissed the rewritten ceremony as "dumbed down", with the changes being the result of the church's anxiety to make everyone feel welcome and not to offend anyone.  A lay member of the general synod said the new version was "weak and woolly".

The changes follow calls from reformers who wanted the language in services to be easier to understand for those who go to church only for weddings funerals or baptisms.

I can understand how these changes will divide the strict traditionalists from the modernisers, and it is interesting to note that this is the third revision of the service since 1980, prior to which the service had not changed in 400 years.

My personal view (and to note this has not been discussed with the clergy at St Michael's) is that we do need to ensure the church remains relevant to a rapidly changing society, and if this means modifying centuries old liturgy then we should do so. Otherwise we might just as well revert to the original Latin. The only caveat I would add is that the changes should not undermine the spiritual and religious nature of the service or ceremony, i.e. become overtly secular. I don't think these changes do that, and I find it hard to argue against a form of change who's purpose is to make sure that people who attend a baptism service understand what is being said.

What do you think?

A Morning With Matthew

British Library Add. MS 59874 Ethiopian Bible - Matthew's Gospel (Ge'ez script) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Saturday 12^th October at 10.0am , a group of us gathered in the Windhill Churches Centre for a morning of exploration into Matthew's Gospel.

After an initial gathering and chat over a tea/coffee, the program started with brief introductory session led by The Rev'd Derwyn Williams. This started with the showing of 13 pictures and identifying what biblical passages these related to. These passages, as it turned out, were all unique to Matthew, and indicated how different this gospel is to the others. Derwyn then proceeded to describe the basic features of Matthew's Gospel and what it is trying to tell its readers. It is in essence a "Jewish Gospel" which portrays Jesus in a Jewish context as a fulfilment of Old Testament prophesies, and his authority in Jewish terms ("Messiah", "Son of David" etc.). The Gospel was written for the Jewish Christian Community, and presents Jesus as the "New Moses" both in the comparisons of the life stories and the presence in the Gospel of 5 books of teaching, which can correlate to the Pentateuch.

Following this, we had two short workshop sessions in which we divided into two groups for either a bible study or meditation. The first session included a meditation (Lectio Divina) on Matthew 19, 16-26 led by The Rev 'd Derrick Hinge, or a study of Matthew Chs 3-5, led by Rob Klincke. The second session was a choice of an Ignatian Meditation on Matthew 12 vv 46-50 led by The Rev'd Tim Weeks, or a study of the Nativity as told in Matthew led by Derwyn.

The groups then reassembled for a final short session of questions and reflections on the morning's activities, and closed with a short act of worship.

I found the event a very enjoyable, informative and thought provoking experience which was very well presented. Many thanks to Derwyn and his fellow contributors for a well run course. I encourage all readers to consider taking advantage of future activities like this; it does not matter what level of knowledge on the subject you already have, you will find this type of event of great benefit.

by Peter Rixson