Welcoming new members to the church family

By Nathan Vickers 

Photo courtesy of The AP.

Sean and Anna Yun brought their 13-month-old daughter Vera to Redeemer Presbyterian Church on a recent Sunday for the child’s Christian rite of baptism. It was in some ways a very private and personal act, but the pastor, the Rev. Leo Schuster, used the occasion to teach a much broader public lesson.

Standing before a congregation of 2,000 people, most of them young like the Yuns, Schuster noted that the lesson was somewhat out of season but added that it is one that we need reminders of all year long.

“It’s strange to talk about this in February,” he explained. “We’re used to hearing this story around Christmas, but we’re starting this morning with his birth.  It’s this idea of the incarnate word. When Jesus took on human flesh and came down here it’s like he sent his final and best word.”

With that, Schuster took Vera into his arms, cradling her as she squawked and cooed. He blessed the child and asked for her parent’s acceptance of the holy act. Then he turned to the congregation and asked them, “And now do you, the congregation, undertake the responsibility in assisting their Christian daughter?”

“Amen,” the crowd responded.

Schuster dipped his hand into the basin and drew a cross on Vera’s forehead. He blessed her in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He baptized her, demonstrating the divinity God bestowed on humans through the incarnation of Christ.

Turning to the congregation, Schuster explained that the rite established the core principle of Christian thought—God became a human so that humans could one day be with God.

“It’s appropriate when we talk about the way God entered the world the way he did,” said Schuster, “that we would welcome into the church a new child.”

“This is the beginning of Vera’s spiritual journey,” Schuster said.

He handed the squirming child, oblivious to the great gift she had just received, back to two proud parents, who were now beaming.

Then Schuster called Vera’s new church family to prayer:

“Father, we thank you for your gift of children. We give thanks that you came to us as a child to identify yourself with us. And now Vera is identified with you.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 at 5:29 am. It is filed under Nathan Vickers, News, View From NYC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.