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Dear Friends in Christ,

Blessed Epiphany and Happy New Year! As I write I pray that all of you are keeping safe and warm on this 7^th day of January, the second day of temperatures well below zero and I give thanks for our Diocesan Hospitality ministries and others that provide shelter and warmth to those in need.

This Sunday, we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of Christ, one of the three manifestations of Christ we celebrate in the Sundays after the Epiphany. In many of our congregations the liturgy will include baptisms or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows.

While preparing to teach in our Deacon’s School later this week, I had the occasion to reread the important Ecumenical Document:  Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, sometimes known as the Lima Document because it was adopted by the World Council of Churches (of which the Anglican Communion is a member) at its meeting in Lima, Peru in 1982. What struck me as I read the document was how clearly it sets forth the theological consensus that shaped our Book of Common Prayer 1979 and the invitation it gives the whole church to discover our deeper unity by holding what seem to be opposite perspectives in dynamic tension. The 33 page document is available for download here. http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-commissions/faith-and-order-commission/i-unity-the-church-and-its-mission/baptism-eucharist-and-ministry-faith-and-order-paper-no-111-the-lima-text. I encourage you to read it or reread it if you have not done so recently. It might be particularly useful for a series of discussions in adult formation classes. I know of no other work that so clearly and concisely sets forth the meaning and implications of baptism.

But we are called to do more than understand baptism; we are to live it by serving others in Jesus name, and by striving for justice and peace. My prayer is that God will bless our efforts to do so in the year ahead.

Yours in Christ,

+Steven