Give the assurance of pardon from the font

Submitted by Christina Berry, pastor, Faith Presbyterian Church, Silver Lake, Minnesota

Our worship committee reviewed the recommendations and decided to make some immediate changes. We pulled our font out of the corner of the sanctuary and moved it to the elevated chancel, near the pulpit. I brought a big beautiful pottery bowl and glass pitcher from home (the original container, inset into the font, is about the size of a custard cup).

The pitcher is filled every Sunday morning and set on the font. After the lay leader leads in the prayer of confession, we have a brief silence, a brief bit of music and then I give the assurance of pardon from the font. I pour the water (my microphone picks up the sound) and then say the words of assurance. I don't lift the water with my hands because my robe sleeves tend to drag in the water and that's just a little more than I can handle.

Also, when we have a baptism (which is several times a year around here) we ask the parents or sponsors to pour the water into the font. All this links very strongly to our practice at funerals, a tradition I learned from Michelle Vetters, who is now in San Antonio. We place the font down on the floor at funerals, near the casket. At the beginning of the service, I always use the Book of Common Worship phrase, "In his/her baptism, N. put on Christ." At the end of the service, after the words of the committal, I pour the water into the font until the pitcher is completely empty, then say, "N's baptism is now complete."

Tell us your story so that we might share it with other congregations who could benefit from your experience.