Quakers and Baptism

WAIT! Don't stop reading.

I couldn't think of a good title that would actually create the desire to read more, so please accept my apologies for the textbook-esque title and hang with me for a minute.

Yesterday I was baptized.

I wanted to save that for tomorrow's recap and of course, other posts next week, but lest you say "Aren't you kind of old to just be getting baptized?" I wanted to offer a word of explanation.

First, I'm not old. (Thankyouverymuch.)

I grew up in the Quaker church. (Also known as the Friends church.) Over the course of my life, I've been questioned often as to why the Quakers don't practice water baptism. (And by questioned, I also mean that one of my friends in high school calmly announced to me over our lunch trays one day that I was going straight to hell for it. Comforting, no?)

To save you the trouble of being plagued by such a question, I took the liberty of perusing the riveting reading of the Quaker Faith and Practice book. I'm going to try to put it in slightly more interesting terms (no offense to the F&P authors) for you - and hope I mostly get it right.

The practice states that Jesus Himself set forth no particular command of ceremony for baptism. The Bible talks about "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" and they interpreted that to mean baptism into the Spirit...not necessarily baptism into water. Therefore, the denomination focuses more on what happens in a person's heart. It's not about getting literally bathed in water...but about a transformed heart.

The practice also states that John the Baptist said of Jesus..."He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire." And when Jesus gave the great commission before His ascension, He said to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." They interpreted that to mean the Name should be more of the focus than the water method.

That's the condensed version. The full version is found on pages 21 and 22 of that link above if you want to read it in its entirety.

I will be the first to admit to you I'm not a theologian. I'm unapologetic about that. I'd rather hide by some water and have a great heart to Heart with my Abba than debate theology with anyone. You can agree or disagree with what the denomination practices - and you won't get an argument out of me, because frankly, I'm not smart enough to hold my own.

But this I can tell you. When (during those heart to Hearts), my Abba told me He wanted me to get baptized (with water) I said okay. And so it was...that yesterday I was baptized.

I can't wait to share it with you. I just thought before we got there, I should give you the background. Thanks for hanging with me through the post and hearing how it all began!