Entering the Household of God: Taking Baptism Seriously in a Post-Christian Society

Anglican Theological Review, Spring 2004 by Weil, Louis

Entering the Household of God: Taking Baptism Seriously in a Post-Chnstian Society. By Claudia A. Dickson. New York: Church Publishing, 2002. xiii 107pp. $16.95 (paper).

Since the Episcopal Church is now some twenty-five years beyond the final authorization of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, it would be wonderful if this book were redundant. But the truth is that the full implications of the theology and practice of Christian initiation which are proposed to the church in that prayer book have only veiy tentatively found a place in our pastoral practice, and even that has not been universally achieved. I can remember saying to a friend at the time the 1979 Book of Common Prayer was authorized that I suspected it would take fifty years for us to realize and embody the theology upon which the rites are based. It turns out that this comment may not have been an exaggeration.

Claudia Dickson's Entering the Household of God is directed toward that goal: how can the rites of initiation in our prayer book be realized and embodied in the common pastoral practice of the church? Her goal is to dig beneath the rites in order to claim their implications, and, as she says in her subtitle, to take baptism seriously. The book will be a useful resource for adult education in any parish or mission where there is a real commitment to achieving that goal. It has the potential to help churches to move beyond the model in which baptism is simply a reflex action and to be claimed as the countercultural event which it truly is.

In the first chapter, Dickson explores American individualism, and confronts it with the theological principle that baptism is always an entrance into the life of the Christian community. In the next chapter, the author develops the theme of discipleship and its cost to those who undertake the Christian "way" with integrity and commitment. This discipleship involves a lifelong process of Christian formation. It is this work-the work of Christian formation-which is the true focus of concern in Dickson's book. It is in chapter 3 that the author engages the issues around "Preparing for Baptism." She writes, "VVe can revise our liturgy all we want, but if we do not reform our practice of preparation, we will perpetuate a form of religion that is more about manners than faithfulness, and our church rolls will continue to be filled with people who are content to be 'inactive' members" (p. 41). The only way to counter this malaise is to take the training of candidates for baptism very seriously. Dickson notes that the birth of the ancient catechumenate was the response of the church leaders to this need. The preparation and formation which the catechumenate was developed to accomplish are an imperative for the church today as well.

These first three chapters form the first section of Entering the Household of God, and lay out the foundation of Dickson's appeal for greater attention to baptismal preparation. In the second section of the book, the material is arranged in a different format which is intended to facilitate a group study and reflection model of adult education. I would see this section as offering opportunity for a group preparing for baptism to reflect together on their journeys in faith. That itself would contribute to a strengthening of Dickson's initial emphasis on baptism as entrance into a life in Christian community rather than merely a "reflex action" which one subsequently ignores.

Louis WEIL

Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Berkeley, California