Christian ritualizing and the baptismal process
Subtitle: liturgical explorations toward a realized baptismal ecclesiology
By: Susan Marie Smith ; with a foreword by Louis Weil
Series: Princeton theological monograph series -- 174; Princeton theological monograph series -- 174.
Publisher: Pickwick Publications
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Eugene, Or
Language: eng
Number of pages: 271
ISBN-13: 9781608997411
Subjects: History of doctrines; Baptism; Baptism (Liturgy)
Description: Most people, even non-Christians, know that Christians gather for worship once a week, and that they are right there to support each other when there is a baptism or a wedding or a funeral. But what about other poignant, vulnerable, or life-changing times? How does the church help people handle changes that in the past, in Christendom, were considered "secular"? Does the church have a role at retirement when one's ministry changes, or when a family's children leave home and familiar patterns seem to grind to a halt? Is there any rite possible for someone who is called to Christian ministry but not to ordination? Or to someone whose vows are broken in divorce? Christian Ritualizing and the Baptismal Process asserts that baptism marks the beginning of a process of participation in Christ's ministry, so that no part of life can finally be considered secular. Susan Marie Smith shows how every passage, healing, and ministry vocation is "holy," and she lays the groundwork needed for every church to create the rituals necessary to lament and celebrate the endings and beginnings that happen in every Christian life.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-263) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: pt. 1. Inherited expectations of baptismal efficacy in the ongoing lives of the baptized. "After the water the fire" : experiencing the Spirit of the baptismal process after baptism /; title: Augustine on Baptism : Holy Spirit and heart conversion are essential; title: Aquinas on baptism : it's about the priest, not the people ; it's about Christ, not the Spirit, (or is it?); title: Calvin on baptism : two perspectives on sacramentality and the church; title: pt. 2. Further up and further in : historical and theological patterns of progressing into Christ. Baptismal experience in the early church : changing one's lifestyle; title: The catechumen process : a conversionary rhythm progressed by ritual; title: Theology of the baptized as growing and responding : theosis and response-giving; title: Stages of faith development : maturing in Christ; title: pt. 3. Making rituals for baptismal fulfillment and the enlivening of the church. Ritual theory and Christian ritualization : the design of ritual strategies; title: Praxological becoming and ritual copmpetence : a call for baptismal ingemination; title: Five principles for Christian ritualizing in the baptismal process : making rites for life passage, healing, and vocational change; title: The one and the many : personal rites for building the Body.