Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friends,

In preparation for next week’s Mosaic Community Night where we will be talking about Baptism, I’ve been doing a little reading, listening, and praying. This podcast on the history of Baptism is a quick introduction just to the history - on Wednesday the 9th at Mosaic we’ll talk a bit more about the theology and lived experience of Baptism, but the podcast is a lovely part of the conversation! The podcaster includes a quote from Tertullian, an early Christian writer, about Baptism that says:

“But we, little fishes, after the example of our ΙΧΘΥΣ Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water…”*

The insistence that we must remain in the waters of Baptism is a powerful point some 1800 years later. To abide with Christ, to stay connected to the true vine, to remember one’s Baptism and the power of it: sin put away, new life granted, new responsibilities, to be marked as Christ’s own for ever, is to come face to face with grace. The Baptized life, the cross-shaped life takes on a new form, with the simplest of prayers and ritual at the start. If you would like to review or pray with the promises you made or those made on your behalf in Baptism, the liturgy for Baptism can be found in a Book of Common Prayer starting on page 299 - if you are interested in being Baptized, please reach out!

In Christ,

Mtr Taylor

PS - This Sunday there is a Baptism at the 9am service, yay!

*The word ΙΧΘΥΣ (ikhthus) is an acrostic in Greek that means “a fish;” and it was used as a name for Jesus, sometimes spelled out Jesus the Christ, God’s Son and Our Savior)