HOLY  BAPTISM

 ( I )  

THE BAPTISM OF PERSONS ABLE  

TO ANSWER FOR THEMSELVES


CSI LITURGY

Eucharist

Order of worship 1

Order of worship 2

Order of worship 3

 

Baptism of Infants

Baptism of Adults

Confirmation

Covenant Service

Marriage

Burial service

Burial service-cemetery

 


THE OFFICE FOR MAKING

A CATECHUMEN

 

The admission of a person as a catechumen should normally be at a service of public worship, and may take place after the Lessons.  Suitable lessons may be read.

After the Lessons, the candidate is led forward by his sponsors, and the presbyter says:

N, who is present here, desires to be received as a catechumen.  He has promised to undergo regular instruction.  Let us therefore pray for him and welcome him with brotherly love.

Let us pray

ALMIGHTY and most merciful God, we pray thee to look favorably upon this person who desires to be brought out of darkness into the clear light of thy truth and the glorious liberty of thy children.  Grant that he may now make a sincere profession of his purpose, and may receive of thee grace to continue steadfast in the path he has chosen, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

He then asks:             N, what do you desire?

Answer:        I ask of you Christian teaching and Holy Baptism.

Do you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?

Answer:        I do.

Are you willing to place yourself under our guidance and instruction that you may be prepared for admission into the Church by baptism?

Answer:        I am willing.

Do you renounce all those customs and practices and teachings which you know to be contrary to Christ’s will?

Answer:        I do.

Do you promise to be diligent in prayer, regular at public worship of the Church, faithful in receiving instruction and in witnessing to others?

Answer:        I promise.

The people stand.  The presbyter greets the candidate(s) according to the custom of the place, and says:

We receive you as a catechumen of the Church of Christ, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  May the almighty God, who has put these good desires into your heart, bring the same good effect.  Amen

Let us pray

All kneel.

¶ ALMIGHTY God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look upon this thy servant, the catechumen; give him a new heart and renew within him a right spirit to know and to do thy will with a ready heart and willing soul.  Make him worthy of the holy initiation of baptism, unite him to thy holy Church, and give him a share in thy diving mysteries, through Jesus Christ our Hope. Amen.

Or

¶ O LORD Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd, who didst lay down thy life for the sheep; mercifully receive this brother into thy fold.  Join him with thine flock, and lead him to thee pleasant pastures of everlasting life; for thy mercy’s sake. Amen.

Or

The minister may pray extempore.

 

THE  BAPTISM

 

The minister ascertains beforehand that the candidates have not already been baptized.

 

THE  DECLARATION  OF  THE  WORD

 

When the people are gathered at, or proceeding to, the place of baptism, a hymn may be sung, after which the minister says:

Our help is in the name of thee Lord:

Who hath made heaven and earth.

* Let us pray

* ALMIGHTY God, thou Shepherd of Israel, who didst deliver thy chosen people from bondage of Egypt, and didst establish with them a sure covenant: Have mercy, we beseech thee, on thy flock, and grant that these persons, who are by baptism to be received into thy heritage, may be delivered from the bondage of sin through thy covenant of grace, and attain the promise of eternal life which thou hast given us in thy Son our Savoir Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end.  Amen.

The people may sit.

Dearly beloved, we are met together to administer holy baptism to these persons, that according to Christ’s command they may be sealed as members of Christ, children of God, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

* Passages so marked may be omitted.

Hear therefore the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:

Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.                               Mathew: 28:19                                  

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and thee Spirit, he cannot enter thee kingdom of God.             John:3:5                                                                                                         

Hear also the word of God declared by the Apostles concerning baptism:

Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for thee forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.       Acts: 2:38

All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.                                            Romans. 6:3,4

By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.                                        1 Corinthians: 12:13

The minister expounds the teaching of Scripture concerning baptism in his own words.

¶ Or he says:

            You have heard the call to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.  Profess therefore your faith and be baptized in Christ’s name; for God is faithful who calls you and, having begun a good work in you, He will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

 

THE  RENUNCIATION

 

All stand, and thee minister says to the candidates:

            You have presented yourselves here for baptism.  You must therefore answer sincerely before God and his Church the questions, which I now put to you.

            Do you renounce [idolatry and] all the works of the devil?

Answer:        I renounce them.

            Do you renounce the pride and vanity of this world?

Answer:        I renounce them.

            Do you renounce impurity, strife, covetousness, and all other works of the flesh?

Answer:        I renounce them.

 

THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

 

            Do you believe in one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

Answer:        I believe.

Let us therefore profess our faith.

The Apostles’ Creed is said or sung by all:

I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:

            And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried, He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty; From  thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

            I believe in the Holy Spirit; The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The forgiveness of sins; The resurrection of the body; And the Life everlasting. Amen.

 

THE  PROMISES

 

Do you desire to be baptized in this faith?

Answer: I do.

            Will you keep God’s holy will and commandment and walk in them all the days of your life?

            Answer:        By God’s grace, I will.

If the candidates are husband and wife, the minister says to them:

            Will you, in obedience to Christ’s teaching, continue together in love, and nurture your children in the Christian faith?

Husband and wife answer together:

            By God’s grace, we will.

The minister says to all the candidates:

May almighty God grant the evil spirit of pride, faction, and sinful desire, may never hereafter have dominion over you: for Christ has brought you with his precious blood, and in your baptism delivers you from the power of darkness and accepts you as children of light.  May your ears be open to hear God’s voice, and your mouth to declare the glory of his name, who liveth and reigneth one God, father, Son, and Holy Spirit, ever world, without end. Amen.

 

THE  BAPTISM

 

The minister says:

            Let us pray in silence for those about to be baptized, that they may receive the fullness of God’s grace.

The people may kneel.

Silence is kept for a space.  Then the minister says:

            The Lord be with you.

            And with thy spirit.

The minister prays in his own words.

¶ Or the following litany is said or sung:

            Blessed art thou, O Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast created all things and given us the element of water:

            Blessed art thou, O Lord.

Blessed art thou, O Lord Jesus Christ, the only- begotten Son of God, who wast baptized in the Jordan and didst die and rise again:

Blessed art thou, O Lord.

Blessed art thou,  O Lord, the Holy Spirit, who didst descend upon Jesus Christ and upon the Church:

            Blessed art thou, O Lord.

Be present, O God, with us who call upon thy threefold name, and bless this water, that it may signify the washing away of sin, and that those who are baptized therein may be born again to eternal life:

            Hear us, we beseech thee.

Grant them thy Holy Spirit, that they may be baptized into the one body, and ever remain in the number of thy faithful and elect people:

            Hear us, we beseech thee.

Grant that, being united with Christ in his death and resurrection. They may die unto sin and live unto righteousness:

Hear us, we beseech thee.

Grant that they may put off the old man and become a new creation in Christ Jesus:

            Hear us, we beseech thee.

From darkness lead them to light; from death lead them to everlasting life:

            Hear us, we beseech thee.

All stand; and the minister, having asked the Christian name, dips each candidate in the water, or pours water upon him, saying:

            N, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The minister says over each person baptized:

We have received this person into the congregation of Christ’s flock

 [ and do sign him with the sign of the cross]. 1

1 Here the minister may make a cross upon the person’s forehead.

Then he says for all together:

May these persons never be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, but continue Christ’s faithful servants unto their lives’ end. Amen.

Then may be said or sung:

The Lord bless you and keep you: the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you: the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.  Amen.      Num.  6:24-26

A hymn of praise is sung.

A procession may be made from the place of baptism into the body of the church

 

*  THE  PUTTING  ON  OF A WHITE GARMENT

 

 

The newly baptized may now put on white garments.

When they have assembled, the minister says to them:

            We will rejoice in the Lord:

            Our souls shall be joyful in our God.

For he hath clothed us with the garments of salvation:

He hath covered us with the robes of righteousness.

Put off your old nature, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds:

            We will put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God.

 

 

* THE  LIGHT

 

 

The newly baptized may be given lighted lamps or tapers.

When they have received them, the minister says:

            Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works:

            And give glory to our Father who is in heaven.       Matt. 5:16

Or some other brief forms of words may be used.

 

THE  THANKSGIVING

 

The minister says:

Let us pray

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done; In earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, Forever and ever. Amen.

 

The minister says, or the minister and people say together:

 

We yield thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it pleased thee to receive these thy servants for thine own children by adoption and to incorporate them into thy holy Church.  And we humbly beseech thee to grant that they may more and more show forth in their lives that which they now are by thy calling; so that thy are made partakers of the death of thy Son, they may also be partakers of his resurrection, and finally, with all thy Church, inherit thine everlasting kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

A  CHARGE

 

 

The minister exhorts the congregation and the newly baptized briefly in his own words.

¶ Or he may say to the congregation:

These our brothers and sisters in Christ have, after profession of their repentance and faith, been received into the household of God.  I charge you, and especially the elders among you, to befriend them, and to remind them what solemn promises they have made before this congregation.  Support them therefore with your prayers, and encourage them to attend to right instruction in God’s holy word, and so to prepare themselves for Confirmation, that, being established in faith by the Holy Spirit, they may come with due preparation to receive the Lord’s Supper, and may go forth into the world to serve God faithfully in the fellowship of his Church.  Will you endeavor to do all these things?

We will, God being our helper; and we receive them into our fellowship.

And then, speaking to thee newly baptized, he says:

And you, beloved, have now by baptism put off your old nature and put on Christ.  Your are accepted as children of God and of the light by faith in Jesus Christ, and should walk as becomes children of light.  Remember always that baptism unites us with Christ in the likeness of his death and resurrection.  We who are baptized must reckon ourselves dead unto sin and no longer in bondage to it.  We have been raised together with Christ, so that we may overcome all evil desires and walk in newness of life.  Let us therefore bear witness to the world that Christ is in our life, knowing that when he is manifested, then they that are his shall also be manifested with him in glory.

A hymn may be sung here, and the thanks offering are taken.

If the baptism is administered otherwise then at the Lord’s Supper or at Morning or Evening Worship, the minister dismisses those that are gathered together with this blessing:

MAY God almighty, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Amen.

 

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