This Sunday's class on Baptism and Confirmation looked at the theological significance, historical evolution, and Episcopal Church practices highlighted in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Baptism was affirmed as full initiation into the Church, with the Baptismal Covenant linking faith to discipleship and social justice. Historically, the Apostles' Creed evolved from early baptismal confessions, shaping faith as participation in God’s redemptive story. Over time, confirmation, initially integral to baptism, became separated, leading to misunderstandings about its role, which contemporary theology redefines as a reaffirmation of baptismal vows and empowerment by the Holy Spirit. This perspective emphasizes baptism as foundational to Christian identity and ministry, fostering inclusivity, justice, and communal engagement, with confirmation serving as a pastoral opportunity for spiritual renewal.

This week, we talked about the place that Baptism holds in Anglican Christianity, serving as the foundational event for ouridentity and communal life as followers of Christ. Far more than a mere ritual, baptism signifies our profound immersion into Christ's life, death, and resurrection, drawing us into deepcommunion with God and one another.

This week, our focus was on the biblical foundations of baptism: where baptism originated, why Christians baptize, and what baptism means within the broader scriptural context. We started by reflecting together about what baptism means to each of us. Participants shared a variety of rich insights, including words and concepts like purification, rebirth, repentance, community, adoption, and declaration. Baptism clearly means many things to many people, and that's exactly the point—baptism is deeply metaphorical, layered, and meaningful in multiple ways.

Ian closed our Lenten series on the body with a tender and powerful story of growing up queer and in the closet as a young person. He shares about navigating shame, desire and anger, hiding his true self and the way he showed up in the world. Listen to his story about being “re-membered” by God, learning to inhabit his body more fully and joyfully, and the practice of remembering his baptism first thing in the morning. 

In our continuing Lenten series on the body, "Jesus Re-Member Me," Aaron reflects on the moment in his childhood when his mind, emotions and body began to split apart and the journey of returning back to wholeness. Centering prayer was the spiritual practice that helped him reintegrate these different parts of himself and he invited us into a 7-minute centering prayer "sit" at the end which we encourage you to do at the end of his sharing. 

As a continuing part of our Lent series on the body, Kirstin reflects on how size is equated with goodness, morality, and competence in our society, and the false and relentless “hope” of diet culture, inviting us to respond to God's invitation to delight and goodness in our bodies in the here and now. 

As part of our Lent series on embodiment, "Jesus, Re-Member Me," Lisha shares her journey - "what happened to her" as she made her way from the dance world to motherhood - the limitations and failures of her body.  Considering her story one of the "quiet ones" - those that hide a brokenness we can't easily see or discern.  

She invites us to consider our own bodies hidden stories and invited us to, over the coming week, consider writing a love letter to our bodies. 

This Lent, we are focusing our spiritual practice on the body with our midweek series "Jesus, Re-Member Me: Lent and the Body." Christine kicked off our series by sharing the story of her body as it intersected with race, gender and spirituality: growing up as the child of Korean immigrants and aspiring to the ideal of white American beauty, the separation of body and spirit in the church, learning to shrink inward and become invisible, and the journey of moving from weakness to power. 

Practice: Spend some time journaling around these questions: 

1. Think back to your childhood. Where did you experience original goodness in your body?

2. As you reflect back on your story, where have you experienced this dis-membering?

3. Where have you experienced this re-membering? Where would you hope to?

On the final night of Epiphany Evenings: Watch For the Light, Lisha led us in an embodied examen prayer based on John 11:1-44, the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Where are the places in your life where you feel dead and that need to be brought back to life? Follow along with this examen and create space to sit with what is in the presence of God. 

Join Lisha as she leads this embodied meditation about cultivating awareness and knowing perception, listening to our body as a guide for discernment. This meditation was originally led on 2/17/22 at our Epiphany Evenings: Watch For The Light gathering on Zoom.