Beach & Baptism Gathering
It has become a tradition of our community to choose a Sunday at the end of summer when we head to the beach to remember our baptisms, to celebrate baptism & to just enjoy spending time together. This year, it's happening on Sunday, September 30th at Little Talbot Island & everyone is invited.Baptism is an ancient sacred ritual or sacrament of the Church. Like all sacraments, it has been the source of much division & debate. At The Well, we try not to get too caught up in doing it "right" and more caught up in what baptism symbolizes. And for followers of Jesus, it is rich in symbolism.It's symbolic that baptism happens in water. Throughout the Bible, water is a symbol of new life & of new beginnings. God stirred over the waters at the beginning of creation & provided water in the desert for his thirsty Israelite exiles. Jesus turned water into wine & it was at a well, that a woman met Jesus and learned about a new way of life. Jesus was baptized in water at the beginning of his public ministry.At our baptisms, we're expressing what's already been happening on our spiritual journeys. We're choosing to enter a new, alternative way of being in the world. We're choosing to be identified as children of the God and as followers of the Way. Baptism is a beginning.Baptism not only happens in water; it also happens in community. That's symbolic, too. Baptism requires at least one other person - we can't really baptize ourselves. Like baptism, our faith journeys requires companions, too. They require friends who will love & encourage, support & learn alongside, confront & challenge us. We believe the way of Jesus is best lived out in community, not in isolation. We need one another.Baptism is not only an ancient sacrament of the church, it continues to shape & form us today. Many of us have our unique baptism stories to remember, others bring questions & doubts & stirrings & still others are eager to enter the waters. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, you are invited to go to the water with us & to experience this significant Sunday in the life of our church.Peace & love,Susan