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Emphasize Baptism

© Rev. Bill Tackmier

This forum looked at how architecture reflects theology. This forum has also looked at Luther's Baptism Service, his sermon on infant baptism, and my thoughts as a father on baptizing my infant son and what God promises to my son and I in this sacrament and what he expects. A classmate of mine wrote this beautiful article that focuses on the baptismal font and how the font expresses the Lutheran theology regarding baptism. I hope you enjoy it! ~john

I taught a class on the history of Lutheranism a few years ago. One Sunday we studied the age of Pietism (ca. 1650-1750). I pointed out how Pietists de-emphasized the sacraments. Churches influenced by Pietism often reflected that attitude with a small baptismal font. I commented that our font at St. Mark's was just such a tiny font. I suggested that we have a bigger one made to visually emphasize baptism. One woman in the class was the wife of a wood craftsman. He had crafted much of the interior woodwork in our church as well as the chancel furniture. This couple was Finnish immigrants. Ritva, the wife (her husband was always more hesitant than her to talk) said in her Finnish accent, "Kalevi wants to know how big do you want it."

That began the search for a new baptismal font.

The history of Lutheranism class also created interest in a trip to Lutherland. In the summer of 1997, seventeen of us from St. Mark's along with seven friends set out for the land of Luther. One of our assignments was to study baptismal fonts in the churches we visited. We wanted to see how the theology of the Reformation influenced the construction of baptismal fonts as well as how the leaders of the Reformation were influenced by the baptismal practices they grew up with. We learned some interesting things about baptism on this trip.

The overwhelming number of fonts we found was made of stone. They were massive, and they were placed in prominent places in the churches. This impressed on us the importance of baptism and its centrality in the life of the church - what a foundation stone it is for believers! We were surprised how consistently the fonts were eight sided, a reminder of how Christ rose on the eighth day - if you count Sunday as the first day of a new week. Some fonts hinted at negative aspects. Although most had no cover, others did. Covers first came about to keep people from stealing the water. Superstitious people believed that the water from a font had miraculous qualities. It was also quite striking that my comments in the history of Lutheranism class were quite true. Churches built during the age of Pietism (ca. 1650-1750) - Catholic as well as Lutheran - had very small fonts.

The copyright of the article Emphasize Baptism in Lutheranism is owned by Rev. Bill Tackmier. Permission to republish Emphasize Baptism in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.