In the preface to the Lima report (BEM), the conviction that has been expounded above finds confirmation. ‘…if the divided churches are to achieve the visible unity they seek, one of the essential pre-requisites is that they should be in basic agreement on baptism, eucharist and ministry. Naturally therefore, the Faith and Order Commission has devoted a great deal of attention to overcoming doctrinal division on these three. During the last fifty years, most of its conferences have had one or another of these subjects at the centre of discussion.’ (preface: viii) The preface defines convergence as ‘the process of growing together in mutual trust...until they are finally able to declare together that they are living in communion with one another in continuity with the apostles and the teachings of the universal Church.’ It is acknowledged that ‘the Holy Spirit has led us to this time, a kairos of the ecumenical movement.’ (preface: x)
The actual length of the agreed text is relatively short. In some ways this is surprising and in another way not so. The text only represents that which can be affirmed together at that point in time (1982) by the churches. The commentary indicates areas where further discussion is needed and makes pertinent interpretive comments. It sees baptism clearly as the locus and focus of Christian initiation. It holds together in careful sentences both imagery, sign and sacramentality. ‘Baptism is the sign of new life…it unites the one baptised with Christ and with his people.’ The text groups phrases such as ‘participation in Christ’s death and resurrection, washing away of sin, new birth, enlightenment by Christ, renewal by the Spirit’ as ‘imagery’. ‘The images
are many but the reality is one.’ (BEM :2.para 2). Paragraph 5 has: ‘The Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of people before, in and after their baptism’ There is here an interesting measure of concurrence with the Gorham judgement (see Appendix 8). The time scale of the working of the Spirit is then extended without denying the continuity of the Spirit’s work since initiation.
God bestows upon all baptised persons the anointing and the promise of the Holy Spirit, marks them with a seal and implants in their hearts the first instalment of their inheritance as sons and daughters of God. (para C5)
Pentecostals might have some disquiet with the notion of the Spirit being bestowed simply upon the ‘sacramentalised’, but the previous paragraph restores the balance by stating: ‘The baptism which makes Christians partakers of the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection implies confession of sin and conversion of heart’, and to make the point stronger: ‘those baptised are pardoned, cleansed, and sanctified by Christ, and are given as part of their baptismal experience a new ethical orientation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.’ (para B4). The issue is clear for any Pentecostal doubters by the statement under ‘Baptism and Faith’: ‘Baptism is both God’s gift and our human response to that gift, the necessity of faith for the reception of the salvation embodied and set forth in baptism is acknowledged by all churches. Personal commitment is necessary for responsible membership in the body of Christ. (BEM :3 para. 8).
The commentary adjoining these texts (:3) states: ‘The need to recover baptismal unity is at the heart of the ecumenical task as it is central for the realisation of genuine partnership within the Christian communities.’ This is stating the obvious and superficially, the texts just quoted might seem in themselves just the bedrock that could lead to such baptismal unity. However, as the text expands into more detail the
significant differences of baptismal practice start to re-emerge. So it is no surprise to find some statements on the traditional polarities of infant and believers’ baptism:
‘In the case of infants, personal confession is expected later, and Christian nurture is directed to the eliciting of this confession.’ The text then puts its finger on a practice which has probably done much to weaken the sense of baptism in the popular mind, namely, the separating of baptism away from main worship, leaving it especially in the case of infants, as a private family affair.
‘At every baptism the whole congregation reaffirms its faith in God and pledges itself to provide an environment of witness and service. Baptism should therefore, always be celebrated and developed in the setting of the Christian community.’ (: 4 para 12).
5.1.6 Summary
From this short discussion on baptism, enough has been said to show that there is a distinct possibility that there could be a breakthrough in the area of baptismal theology leading to ecumenical agreement. But equally divergences seem to exist in the area of pastoral discipline and preparation for the rite, either of the adult candidates or of the parents of those bringing infants and young children to baptism. The latter must be ready to consider carefully calls for delaying the age at which baptism generally takes place. The ‘Baptists’ need to be prepared to admit more sacramental objectivity in the rite. Both poles need to re-grasp the initiatory realities that the early church held together, i.e. personal profession of faith, the gift of the Spirit, repentance, commitment and the rite of water baptism itself. In this way eventual agreement could be reached across the church. In the same way, in which the Patristic Church wrestled with Creeds through ecumenical councils, before arriving at statements, which commanded the widest agreement; so perhaps there needs to be a Catholic-Protestant-Pentecostal forum, (initially confined to the charismatic milieu on this matter), which could work towards an agreed baptismal theology and practice.
A mutual recognition of each denomination’s members would be the logical outcome of the work of a reconstructed and mutually agreed baptismal theology. That in itself could lay the foundation of a visibly united church.
5.2 Episcopacy
If baptismal agreement is fundamental to visible Christian unity and the possibility of achieving it an exciting prospect, then the subject of ministerial oversight: episcope rivals baptism as one of the two crucial theological knots to be untied. Episcopacy is still a matter of considerable debate in ecumenical circles and like baptism, approaches to the problem come from opposing starting points. This section examines the roots of the issue and discusses ways out of the cul-de-sac. In the process, the relevance of charismatic thinking and experience is relevant, and ‘apostles of unity’ are discovered.