05/21/2026
This Sunday, we'll celebrate Pentecost with 5 baptisms!
In the Anglican Church, the baptistry is placed in the BACK of the sanctuary. This is because baptism is the rite by which we spiritually join the church and begin our journey of life back to God in Christ. The communion table is set at the FRONT of the sanctuary as a reminder of our future and destiny in Christ: sharing a great feast at the wedding supper of the Lamb in the new heavens and new Earth. Each Sunday, the congregation sits BETWEEN the baptistry and the table reminding us that we are in the midst of our journey. We remain a people on the way, empowered by God's Spirit for the mission and ministry to which He's called us.
When we baptize an infant or a child in the Anglican tradition, we all make a promise as the church to raise this child in the faith until the day when he or she can profess their own personal faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Thus, baptism isn't something we watch God do in the life of one person. In baptism we all participate in God's grace at work to knit our church together and grow us all up in the faith.
It is fitting to celebrate baptisms on Pentecost. On Pentecost, we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles to empower them to do the same things Jesus did and to carry His message to the ends of the Earth. Just like them, we as Christ-followers today are dependent on God's Spirit to empower us for mission. On our own, we can do nothing, yet in and through Christ and by the power of His Spirit, we can do all things! And so, we come expectant to watch as God works fresh grace in the lives of those being baptized, even as we participate in that grace together as a body. And we remember that remain a Holy Spirit-constituted, led, and empowered people.
Truly it is Christ in us, by the power of the Spirit, for the world He loves!
We can't wait to celebrate with you Sunday!
