In 1563 Thomas Cranmer, once Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote in the thirty-nine articles of faith: “The Baptism of young children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ”. Bob Key, CPAS General Director, thinks he was right.

Infant Baptism - do you celebrate it or feel stuck with it? Are you convinced of it as the covenant birthright of the children of Christian parents, or do you apologise for it to non-Christian friends? I never want to apologise for the evangelical Anglican position; that the baptism of the children of Christian parents is both biblical and totally in tune with the covenant love of the God who reveals himself in Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul tells us that such children are holy, and in Acts 15, Luke records family baptisms when the head of the household puts his or her faith in Jesus. This is not the place for a full theology of infant baptism, but I do believe we should not apologise for what the scripture allows.

The problem the church has encountered is years of bad practice. People with a folklore religion surround us. They bring their children for baptism, not because they themselves know and love the Lord Jesus, but for reasons of tradition, good luck, family pressure, the desire for a rite of passage, or because in a tough world they want their baby to have God’s blessing and protection.

So often people are met by one of two reactions: sausage-machine sacraments or cold-shoulder judgement. Parents decide that either little Jenny or little Justin is to be “done” with little more than a date fixed with the verger and an invitation to contribute to the organ appeal! On other occasions, our attempts to protect baptism from misuse comes across as saying, “We don’t want you, you’re not good enough but please join our sixty-five week course on the A-Z of theology!” It may not be our fault that for centuries the Church of England has mishandled infant baptism, but neither is it the parents’ fault.

CPAS is in the business of evangelism, encouraging leaders and equipping churches. These three aims come together in our new resource First Steps. This is designed to help clergy and churches use the opportunities that baptism requests give us for evangelism and pastoral contact. It is aimed at the real society in which we live, not the world as we might wish it to be. It leaves no one out. Single parents are made as welcome as married couples. Like Jesus, it seeks not to judge but to bring the gospel with all the challenge and love of God to everyone.

I hope and pray that this new resource will be something that in the power of the Holy Spirit you will use in your baptism preparation.

First Steps

This is CPAS’s new baptism preparation video. It is aimed at couples and single parents with little or no church background.

For more information, contact CPAS sales (01926) 458400 www.cpas.org.uk