SERVICES FOR
THE BAPTISM OF CHILDREN
AND
THE LORD’S SUPPER
UCCSA/ELD
1980
Compiled by:
The liturgical Committee of
The United Congregational Church of Southern Africa
Published by:
The Ecumenical Literature Distribution Trust
P.O. Box 2115
Johannesburg
2000
© The United Congregational Church of Southern Africa
P.O Box 31083
Braamfontein
2017
ISBN 0 86881 071 1
All rights reserved.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ...... 4
THE BAPTISM OF CHILDREN ...... 7
THE LORD’S SUPPER ...... 19
APPENDIX
SENTENCES AND PRAYERS FOR THE CHRIST-
IAN YEAR AND OTHER SPECIAL DAYS ...... 46
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following for the use of copyright material, in some cases slightly adapted:
Geoffrey Chapman Publisher, for the prayers at Offertory and the Acclamation in the Lord’s Supper;
Alan Gaunt and John Paul the preacher’s Press, for the Affirmation In the Lord’s Supper, ‘We worship God, the Father….’ ‘We affirm our faith...’ from New Prayers for Worship;
The International Committee on English in the Liturgy, for the version of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, Sursum Corda and Sanctus, and the Lord’s Prayer;
The Registrars of the Provinces of Canterbury and York, for the Introduction to the service for the Baptism of Children and for the first prayer in that service, from Alternative Services, Series 3, Initiation Services, of the General Synod of the Church of England;
The Student Christian Movement Press, Ltd., for paragraph, ‘We thank you that Jesus was born among us…’ from Contemporary Prayers for Public Worship, edited by Caryl Micklem;
The United Reformed Church in England and Wales, for the questions to the parents and some of the prayers in the service for the Baptism of Children, from Order of Worship for the Baptism of infants; and for the Prayer of Thanksgiving, from New Church Praise, and the hymn, ‘For those we love within the veil’, in The Lord’s Supper.
All scriptural quotations are from The New English Bible, copyrights by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press and the Delegates of the Oxford University Press.
Any inadvertent omission of acknowledgement of rights is sincerely regretted, and, on receipt of information to that effect, will be rectified in any subsequent printing.
THE BAPTISM
OF
CHILDREN
FOREWORD
BAPTISM is administered in the presence of the gathered congregation during the course of Sunday worship, and normally within that section of the service entitled ‘THE WORD OF GOD’, either after the reading of Scripture following the Sermon.
The Scripture reading should be those appointed for the day, or respectively Ezekiel 26:24-28, Romans 6:3-11, and John 3:1-17. Other suitable passages may, however, be substituted.
Where several children are to be baptized, so that the service need not be unduly prolonged, the Minister may question the parents and sponsors together (5, 6), with each family responding individually. Similarly, the congregation’s welcome (16) may be expressed only once, when all the baptized children are presented.
Affirmation of Faith (11): Traditionally throughout most of the Western Church the Apostles’ Creed has been used as the baptismal affirmation of faith. Hence it is included optionally in this service.
When baptism is administered in the service of the Lord’s Supper and this creed is included at the time of baptism, the Affirmation of Faith in that service (21) should, of course, be omitted.
The Prayers (20-25): When baptism is administered in the service of the Lord’s Supper, the Intercessions (24.1-6) in that service may be omitted, and the Lord’s Prayer (24) during the baptismal service should also be omitted
Sections of the service with numbers in brackets are optional.
Sponsors: This service makes explicit provision for parents to be accompanied and assisted by sponsors. Their duties are clearly outlined in the question (6) addressed to them, where they are ask to ‘help this child’s parent to bring him up in the faith and fellowship of the Church’. Their function is not, then, to take over the parents’ responsibilities, but to act on behalf of the local church in assisting the parents to fulfil them. It is difficult - if not actually impossible - for the whole congregation to exercise full pastoral care of the children baptized into its fellowship, yet this is a constant need, if these children are to be trained in the practice of the Christian life and brought to personal profession of faith. The compilers of this service consequently advocate that the very ancient institution of sponsors (dating back at least to the end of the second century A.D) be introduced again into our churches.
Sponsors should be members in good standing, appointed by the church meeting or church council, to which they are responsible for the child’s spiritual growth, and to which they should report regularly. They should therefore be mature Christians, able and willing to counsel the parents and help in nurturing the child spiritually.
In cases where the family moves to another place, and so to another local church, new sponsor should be appointed, so that the pastoral care may be maintained until the child is ready to make his own profession of faith.
Preparation: In our opinion the preparation of parents for the baptism of their children is of THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE. At the very least this should include counselling in the implications of the question they will be asked and the promises they will make (5). During this preparation it may also be appropriate to introduce the parents to the sponsors, and to remind the latter of their responsibilities.
IN THE MAIN this service has been based on a draft prepared by the Liturgical Committee of the Church Unity Commission. The members of the Liturgical Committee of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa are most grateful for permission to make use of that draft. They too would record their appreciation of the material included in many baptismal orders, and in particular in the Alternative Service, Series 3, Initiation Services, of the General Synod of the church of England, and in the Order of Worship for the Baptism of Infants of the United Reformed Church in England and Wales. That some material contained in these services has been adapted in the present service in no way diminishes the indebtedness to them.
AN ORDER of service for the Baptism of Believers will be prepared in due course, to accompany an order for Reception into Full Communion within the covenant of the local church.
THE LITURICAL COMMITTEE submit this service with the prayer that it may help all our people to a worthier participation in the noble rite of Christian baptism, as it is administered to our children, and that God will bless its use in our church, to his eternal glory.
THE BAPTISM OF CHILDREN
(Baptismal Hymn)
INTRODUCTION
AFFIRMATION
Questions to the Parents
The Sponsors
The Congregation
THE BAPTISM
Versicle and Response
Prayer
(The Apostles’ Creed)
The Naming
The Baptism
The Blessing
THE PRESENTATION AND WELCOME
THE PRAYERS
Prayers for the Child(ren)
The Parents
The Sponsors
The Congregation
(The Lord’s Prayer)
(The Grace)
(Baptismal Hymn)
The parts said by the Minister are printed in Small Type.
The parts said by the People are printed in Bold Type.
The parts said by MINISTERS AND PEOPLE together are printed in
BOLD CAPITALS.
THE BAPTISM OF CHILDREN
1. After the reading of Scripture or following the Sermon, the parents, accompanied by the sponsors, bring their child(ren) to the front.
2. A baptismal hymn may be sung.
3. INTRODUCTION
After his resurrection our Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples:
Full authority in heaven and earth has been committed to me. Go forth therefore and make all nations my disciples; baptize men everywhere in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all I have commanded you. And be assured, I am with you always, to the end of time.
On the day of Pentecost Peter urged the people:
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and your children, and to all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God may call.
Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, by the birth of children God give parents a share in the act and the joy of creation. But all who are born of human parents need to be born again. As Jesus tells us, “No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born from water and spirit.” And so God promises us a part in his new creation and the covenant of grace, giving us the Holy Spirit that we may live in union with him.
Baptism is the sign and the seal of this new birth, of our entry into the covenant, and of our membership in Christ’s Church, as he brings us from death to life, making us partakers of his resurrection, so that we may live as heirs of his kingdom.
Through baptism our children enter the family of the Church. As they grow up, they need the help example, and encouragement of this family, so that they may learn to be faithful in public worship and private prayer, and to live by trust in God. They depend on their parents, their sponsors, and the whole congregation of God’s People to teach, guide, and care for them, leading them to their own profession of the Christian faith and to serve Christ in the Church and in the world.
AFFIRMATION
4. The minister questions the parents and sponsors of each child in turn.
(4.1) (When children are to be baptized, he may question the parent and sponsors together, allowing each family to respond individually.)
5. To the parent the minister says:
M. and N., as you bring your child to be baptized,
Do you believe and trust in God the Father as your Father?
The parents answer: We do.
Do you believe and trust in God the Son as your Saviour and Lord?
The parents answer: We do.
Do you believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit as your Upholder and Guide?
The parents answer: We do.
Do you promise, by God’s help, to provide a Christian home for your child, where by your example he may learn to put his trust in Jesus Christ, and live for him? And do you promise to bring him up in the worship and the teaching of the Church, encouraging him to enter fully into its life and its witness in the world?
The parents answer: By God’s help, we do.
6. To the sponsors the Minister says:
M. and N, will you help this child’s parents to bring him up in the faith and fellowship of the Church?
The sponsors answer: By God’s help, we will.
7. When all the parents and sponsors have been questioned, the Minister asks the
congregation:
As God’s people in this place, will you receive this child into your fellowship? Will you pray for him and his parents? Will you nurture him in the faith of Christ by maintaining the common life of worship and service, so that he and all the children of this congregation may grow in grace, in the knowledge of God, in the love and the service of his Son, and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit?
By God’s help, we will.
THE BAPTISM
8. Praise God who made heaven and earth,
who keeps his promise for ever!
9. Let us pray.
Almighty God,
We thank you that your Son, Jesus Christ,
Was baptised in the river Jordan.
We thank you
That you brought him through the deep waters of death
And raised him to life in triumph.
We thank you
That in him you offer us new birth
Through water and the Holy Spirit.
ALLELUJAH!
Bless the water,
So that this child who is baptized in it
May be made one with Christ
In his death and resurrection,
To be cleansed and delivered from all sin.
Send your Holy Spirit upon him,
To bring him to new birth in the family of your Church,
And to raise him with Christ to full and eternal life.
For all might, majesty,
Authority, and power are yours,
Now and for ever!
10. The congregation stands.
11. Let us affirm our faith.
I BELIEVE IN GOD,
THE FATHER, THE ALMIGHTY,
CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.
I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST,
HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD.
HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
AND BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY.
HE SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE;
HE WAS CRUCIFIED, DIED, AND WAS BURIED.
HE WENT DOWN TO THE DEAD.
ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN.
HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN,
AND IS SEATED
AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE ALMIGHTY FATHER.
HE WILL COME AGAIN
TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT,
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH,
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS,