Emphasize Baptism

Jan 26, 2001 - © Rev. Bill Tackmier

When we returned to California, we gave pictures and postcards of baptismal fonts to Kalevi, our craftsman. He design a font influenced by our pictures. Although made of wood, Kalevi's font captured the "stone" look of European fonts. At 3 feet high and 2½ feet wide, it looked weighty. We would place it in the front of our center aisle, not in the little niche off to the side where the previous font had stood. It was going to serve us much better than the old font. Many of our baptisms are performed on teenagers and adults. The previous basin wasn't much wider than an adult head, which made it difficult to baptize without baptizing the font also.

We had one difficulty in finishing the font. We wanted an earthen basin - not metal. We hoped that this would give the stone, "foundational" impression we had seen in European fonts, but we also hoped that it would go well with our sanctuary's aggregate stone floor. It was difficult to find the basin we wanted. We searched many catalogues and called many church supply companies. But we couldn't find a "ready made" basin that matched our expectations. Finally we bought a terra cotta basin only to discover that terra cotta is porous. The finish quickly began to chip and peal. So we turned to a local pottery designer who was just the person to design a basin for our purposes. Bob Schumacher was able to "throw" the exact ceramic basin that our font required.

We now have a beautiful baptismal font. It reflects our beliefs about baptism, and it also enhances the aesthetic beauty of our sanctuary. We dedicated it on the first Sunday of Epiphany, The Baptism of Our Lord. We had a baptism that day. The sound of the pouring water added a new, audible dimension to the worshipers' experience of the sacrament.

Since the installation of the second basin, we found a beautiful, natural scallop shell that covers the drain on the bottom of the basin when it is not in use. The pastors use the shell for pouring water when baptizing. We keep water in the basin at all times as a visual reminder of baptism. When the water needs to be changed, the old water can be drained through a hose underneath the basin. The font is on casters so that we can move it

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.

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