Michael and Gertrude were new parents when they entered a church for the first time. Gertrude had been baptized as an infant but had not been back since elementary school. Michael had only a fleeting knowledge of what church was all about, but he knew he wanted a Christian environment in which to raise their baby, Peter. Michael and Gertrude approached the session with a request that both Michael and Peter be baptized. The session was willing, but wondered, “How should we help them understand what baptism is all about?”

Timothy, age thirteen, started coming to church to be with his good friend Catherine. When Catherine signed up for the new confirmation class, Timothy signed up, too. Without having been raised in the church, however, he was bewildered by all of the Bible stories and the “church talk” that was new to him. Where, he asked Catherine, could he go to talk to someone about the basics of the Christian faith?

These stories are cropping up more frequently in churches around the country today. Many adults and youth are coming to the church with little prior knowledge of the Christian way but with a deep hunger to know more. We need a thoughtful, intentional process of welcoming them to baptism. Though we are blessed with a rich and complete service of baptism in the Book of Common Worship, many of our churches lack a well-defined process through which we can welcome new Christians into the community of faith. Cultural shifts in the last quarter century have produced a situation in which prevailing models of Sunday school and new members classes are no longer enough. Church members, both new and old, need guidance in disciplines of Scripture reading and prayer, and they need a structured environment in which to reflect on faith as they grow in their relationship to Christ.

In the late 1960s, the Roman Catholic Church recovered an ancient model of baptismal preparation from the early centuries of the church. Known as the catechumenate, or the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, this model sets adult seekers in relationship with Christians of mature faith and then gathers these seekers and mentors into groups to engage in regular Scripture reading, prayer, and mission. As they are engaged in this process, the seekers are also intentionally incorporated into the life of a worshiping community through particular acts in congregational worship, until they are ultimately welcomed into the church at baptism. Several Protestant churches are now benefiting from local adaptation of this process.

1. The basic structure of the catechumenate process looks like this:
2. a period of inquiry, focused on the questions of seekers and ending with a commitment to seek baptism
3. a period of more structured faith formation
4. a period of baptismal preparation, traditionally coinciding with Lent
5. baptism (or reaffirmation of baptism) at Easter
6. a period of exploration of baptismal living, traditionally during the season of Easter

In 2001, the Office of Theology and Worship gathered a small study group to read and discuss the history and theology of the catechumenate in relation to the Reformed tradition. In 2002, with the help of a grant from the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship, the office expanded its efforts by working with nine pilot congregations willing to learn more about the catechumenate model and to experiment with it locally. We sent two-person teams (a pastor and a member from each of the pilot congregations) to a catechumenate training event early in the year. We then asked them to reflect on and experiment with their learning from that event in their particular contexts. In October 2002, all teams attended a gathering in Louisville to share their experiences and reflections with each other and with the Catechumenate Study Group. Out of this pilot project has grown a network of churches that are committed to baptism as a fundamental mark of Christian identity and that welcome new Christians into discipleship with integrity and enthusiasm.

The catechumenate provides a promising model for incorporating adult Christians into the church, but it also has implications for the following areas of the church’s life:

• Infant baptism. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a heritage of infant baptism, which raises theological and pastoral questions regarding the catechumenate. We have strong theological commitment to the baptism of infants, rooted in the radical priority of God’s grace. Yet many parents, like Michael and Gertrude above, are coming to church with little or no knowledge of what it means to present their children for baptism. We need to consider how best to form these parents in Christian faith and life, so that with integrity they can make the baptismal promise to nurture their children in the faith. The catechumenate provides a helpful model for formation of parents as well as adults seeking baptism for themselves.
• Baptized uncatechized adults. As many pastors know, more churches are attracting adults like Gertrude who were baptized as infants but who have experienced no subsequent church involvement. The model of the catechumenate can be adapted to form these seekers in faith, preparing them to reaffirm their baptism and become full, practicing members of the body of Christ.
• Confirmation. Most PC(USA) churches welcome young people into “full membership” upon profession of faith at confirmation, but this process often has little relationship to baptism. With its attention to the questions of faith, the practice of mission, and the context of the worshiping community, a catechumenate approach can help to form young Christians in faith and bring them to a reaffirmation of baptismal vows that integrates them fully into the life of the church.

How can you find out more about this process of welcoming new Christians? First, see the recent issue (vol. 36, no. 2) of the journal Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching, and the Arts, published by the Office of Theology and Worship and Geneva Press. This issue features several articles on the catechumenate by scholars and pastors who have studied and practiced it (to order the journal, call (800) 227-2872 and subscribe or ask for 36.2). The PC(USA) does not yet offer complete resources for the catechumenate process, but there are helpful resources available from both the United Methodist and the Lutheran churches:

Come to the Waters: Baptism and Our Ministry of Welcoming Seekers and Making Disciples, by Daniel T. Benedict Jr. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1996. (Methodist)

Welcome to Christ: A Lutheran Catechetical Guide. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1997. (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—ELCA)
Welcome to Christ: A Lutheran Introduction to the Catechumenate. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1997. (ELCA)

Welcome to Christ: Lutheran Rites for the Catechumenate. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1997. (ELCA)What Do You Seek? Welcoming the Adult Inquirer: A Guide to Ministry with New Members. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2000. (ELCA)

For information on training events, contact the North American Association for the Catechumenate, the ecumenical Protestant organization dedicated to the training and support of churches engaged in this ministry (www.catechumenate.org), and the North American Forum for the Catechumenate, the parallel Roman Catholic organization (www.naforum.org).

If you are interested in learning more about our work in the catechumenate, please contact Martha Moore-Keish at (888) 728-7228, ext. 5332, or at mmooreke@ctr.pcusa.org.