Dublin’s Eucharistic view of baptism and community –
The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, has the masterful ability to convey his thoughts in language which is economic and yet nuanced. That it is the result of a capable scholastic mindset is readily obvious.
When I come across a press release or paper by the Archbishop, I know I am going to have to take time to read it, and that I will be repaid more than adequately for doing so.
One such was his address on Monday on the theme of Communion in One Baptism at the 50th International Eucharistic Congress held at the RDS in Dublin. For the first time, a full day of the congress was devoted to Christian unity and had ecumenical participation with an Ecumenical Liturgy of Word and Water.
The Archbishop gave the following address at the Congress:
“The word: communion is, all too often, a shorthand term for Eucharist. Beginning the International Eucharistic Congress 2012 with a celebration of baptism instantly sets communion in a wider context, with biblical and theological underpinning. The word: koinonia – English: communion – is itself a rich cavern of ideas. There is the communion which we have with Christ and with one another. There is, of course, the divine communion of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The positive invitation to participate in this conversation and restoration of communion to a central position engages us with the request to live out the full expression of the communion we already have through baptism in our lives. We are called to do so by reconciliation, forbearance, pilgrimage and by being agents of peace for one another.
“One of the most useful definitions of koinonia offered in preparation for the International Eucharistic Congress 2012 is the following: the relationship between persons resulting from their participation in one and the same reality. The challenge ecumenically for all of us who wish to do this is our need to hold fast to our relationship of communion in Christ when its strength and energy come through the Eucharist, when our current requirement is to celebrate Eucharist separately. It is the Eucharist which feeds us eschatologically for the work of God’s kingdom as disciples of Christ here on earth.
“What shape might this baptized life of communion take, to which we are called and indeed compelled? As long ago as 1991, the Fourth International Anglican Liturgical Consultation drew the urgent attention of the Anglican Communion to the following need: ‘There is need for the Anglican churches to relate the administration of baptism to the reality of reception of the Gospel… Baptism, in its frontier role, should both convey goodness to the world and model with it conversion and commitment to Christ.’ The importance to me of this Eucharistic Congress is in its hope of an outworking of this principle. It speaks of the broader picture of the life of communion flowing from baptism. Once we accept that mission is, first and last, God’s mission, questions have to be asked about how we enable this gift of God to be the spiritual activity and the active spirituality of the church of today. And we need to be mindful always that God speaks through the world to the church, as also to the world through the church. Both need each other and both are enriched by the interchange of care and concern.
“Baptism facilitates and forms the one body of Christ. Through each and every baptism, the church is formed as a community of participation. Baptism enables distinct Christian communities to have not simply parallel lives but a shared life ‘conjoined in the missionary purpose of God’ (The Toronto Report). The ministry and mission of God in the church for the world is the responsibility of all God’s people.”
As they say on University Challenge, that is your starter for ten! The fact that an Anglican primate was not only invited to speak, but was able to make such a contribution at this major event in the life of the Roman Catholic church internationally, is something to thank Almighty God for.
To reduce four wonderful paragraphs by the archbishop to one sentence – Baptism shapes communion, and communion shapes the community – the church – whose purpose is to be creatively missionary.
The centrality of baptism and its function is an issue which needs to be addressed seriously within the Church of Ireland. I get the feeling that there are an increasing number of places where what heretofore has been the normal practice of infant baptism may be conducted almost tongue in cheek. It communicates, “We are doing it but we really are not totally committed to our actions.” The mindset appears to be that baptism is a holding operation in the hope of a conversion style experience later in life which would be associated more often with Baptist or US mega churches who at least declare openly what they are practising.
It is this mindset on baptism which, I would posit, principally prevents the acceptance of children at communion in the Church of Ireland. And yes, confirmation is another rite in need of a reformation which should also fall under the sweep of Archbishop Michael’s concise review.
Another pertinent question for myself, reawakened by the Archbishop is – where does the Church of Ireland’s concept of koinonia stop? Where does it fall short of acceptance of people who are in fact baptised? Does this also affect the mindset on the issue of genuine acceptance of baptised LGBT people and those of them who are in same sex partnerships?
For myself the Archbishop’s short address presents an admirable, competent and concise appraisal of baptism, communion and the church as mission community. But the Archbishop’s address is the very place from which he and his fellow members of the House of Bishops should set out to explore further in their corporate attempt to lead the church into the future with God. Baptism is the key. It certainly is the lens through which all worthwhile explorations by the church and developments based on such explorations should be viewed.
Forget about the management models imported from commerce and imposed upon the church. Here in this address by the Archbishop is the starter document for a model based on baptism, koinonia, and community engagement in mission.
I htink that is the third or fourth utterance by a bishop which I have agreed with this week – am I sickening for something?
Houston McKelvey