“Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church. The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble” (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 298).
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the Holy Spirit swept over the face of the waters. It was through water that a few persons were saved during the flood in the days of Noah. When the Lord raised the people of Israel from Egypt, they passed through the waters of the Red Sea. And it was in water that our Lord, Jesus Christ, received the baptism of John, when the Holy Spirit fell upon him like a dove and a voice appeared declaring the pleasure of the Father for the Son.
It is through water, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, that we are united to Christ and his Church. Holy Baptism is the sacrament in which the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit, imprints the seal of the Son upon our soul. It is the sacrament of unity, in which we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own—forever. Holy Baptism is the rite of entrance into the one holy catholic and apostolic Church; and it is the sign that God welcomes us and desires to be one with us, our souls and bodies, inviting us to unity with Christ in his death and resurrection, and to new life by the Holy Spirit.
Church of the Holy Family is a church that cares deeply about Baptism. This is evident even in the physical form of our church, in which there is a large, cruciform/octagonal full-immersion baptismal font. It is also evident in the frequency with which we baptize: baptism is a common occurrence on Sunday mornings throughout the church year, and features prominently in our celebration of the Great Vigil of Easter. Every baptism is an occasion for us to renew our baptismal covenant and to ‘remember’ our own baptisms; this is why we make a practice of using an aspergillum to sprinkle the people with holy water as we welcome the newly baptized.
Perhaps you are reading this, and you are not a baptized Christian. If what you seek is life in Christ, and you wish to learn more about Holy Baptism and the shape of Christian discipleship, we encourage you to contact us. We would love to meet you, and listen to your story.