Worshiping With Children: Year B - Baptism of the Lord (January 8, 2011)

The Baptism of the Lord offers an excellent opportunity to explore the sacrament of baptism with worshipers of all ages. Try some of the following:

a One minister emailed the entire congregation asking them to talk about the baptism of each person in their household before coming to church on this Sunday. Those stories formed a personal context for each worshiper as they explored baptism together during worship.

a If you hang curtains of blue ribbons in the doors to the sanctuary on baptismal Sundays, hang them today in honor of Jesus’ baptism. At the very least they provide an introduction to the story of Jesus’ baptism that connects his baptism to that of each worshiper. It is also a chance to suggest to worshipers that as they pass through those curtains every time they appear people can remember and thank God for their own baptism. In the charge and benediction, remind worshipers to do so as they leave the sanctuary today. If you have a children’s time, explain the practice and lead the children out the doors and back through the curtains.

a During the sermon walk through and comment on your congregation’s baptismal rite. Even use a doll and adult volunteers to take the various roles in both infant and adult baptisms.

a Today’s texts particularly suggest reading and commenting on the prayer over the water in the traditional rite for baptism. Most children and many adults think of that as “the long baptism prayer” that gets in the way of getting to the main water event. Take time to read through the prayer pointing out all the water references (God moving over the water at creation, God floating Noah on the flood waters, God opening the sea for the Hebrews to pass out of Egypt to freedom, and Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan). If you have pictures of the Bible stories, work with worshipers to connect the pictures to the phrases in the prayer. Ponder the mysterious way this water of our baptism connects us to and makes us one of all the people of God of all ages.

a Invite the congregation to recall and celebrate their baptisms by coming forward, dipping their fingers into the baptismal font, and saying silently, “I belong to God,” “I am baptized” or some similar phrase.

a If you include renewal of baptism in the service and your congregation practices infant baptism, provide a chance for parents and the congregation to recall and renew their vows to the children. Parents can stand in place with their children to hear and answer the questions. This is an opportunity for children to hear their parents renew their commitments to them, for preachers to offer a few specific suggestions about how to keep those promises to growing children, and for parents to reclaim their commitments made to infants in the presence of those children as they grow. Follow it with time for hugs – or passing the peace, if you want to stay within the liturgy.

a Sing a baptismal hymn for Jesus today. If your congregation regularly sings a given hymn or chorus at baptisms, talk about its meaning, then sing if for Jesus today. Two baptism hymns that are child accessible can be sung and explored as follows:

“Child of Blessing, Child of Promise” - Read and comment on the words of verses 3 and 4 before the congregation sings the song.

“Christ When For Us You Were Baptized” – To point out the connection of the first three verses to the story of Jesus’ baptism in Mark, give each child a sheet of paper with the hymn words printed in the middle. Direct them to underline all the things they hear as you read Mark 1:9-11. Then, challenge them to illustrate those things around the edges of the sheet. Invite them to post their sheets at an agreed upon place (baptismal font, altar rail, door to sanctuary, even your office door) at the end of the service. The reading could be done as a children’s time with the leader pausing in the reading to be sure everyone catches all the connections or it could be tied to the reading of the gospel for the day. In either case the congregation should sing the song shortly thereafter.

a Water Come Down: the Day You Were Baptized, by Walter Wangerin, Jr. describes how sun, cloud, rain, wind, and water are involved in a child’s baptism. The idea is lovely, but a little over the top. The whole universe seems to revolve about the child rather than the child taking his or her place among God’s people and the universe. One way to use it in worship would be to read only the end of the book beginning with “Your family was there that holy day…”after walking through your congregation’s infant baptism rite. Can anyone point us to other good baptism books to read in worship to children?

a Go to Year A - Baptism of the Lord to find more suggestions.

Genesis 1:1-5

On the first Sunday of Epiphany-tide, celebrate God’s first creation – light.

a Create an impromptu litany by inviting worshipers to name different sources of light. As each is named the whole congregation replies, “And God saw the light and it was good” or “Thank God for light.” Possibilities include the sun, stars, fire/campfire/fireplace/candles, search light, light house, flashlight, nightlight, light sticks, lightning, lightning bugs, and more.

a Invite the congregation to walk through 24 hours of light with you. Start imagining a local sunrise, describe the natural light at different times of the day, and name some of the human-made sources of light used at different times of the day (e.g. the oven light to check progress of a meal being baked).

a Talk about all the candles used in worship throughout the year. If possible gather them all into a display at the front. Light each one as you identify it and its use. Include Advent candles, a Christ candle, the small candles used during candlelight services, the candles used every Sunday in the worship center, baptismal candles (if they are part of your tradition), and any other candles you use.

a On the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, this text reminds us that just as God provided light of the sun, God also provided Jesus who is also light for the world. Because this metaphor is a stretch for literal thinking children, take time to explain how Christ is the light of the world as much as the sun is. (Jesus lights up the world with God’s love and helps us see how God intends for us to live. When we see Jesus we can see what we want to do and be.)

Psalm 29

This psalm celebrates the power of the LORD. To emphasize that power, invite the congregation to join reading the psalm with one side of the congregation repeatedly asking “How strong is the LORD?” and the other replying with the verses of the psalm. Or, the choir could pose the question with the congregation answering.

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Psalm 29

All: Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;

worship the Lord in holy splendor.