Do you know we have TWO Baptisms coming up in January?
On January 4, 2026, at 10:00 am, the Second Sunday after Christmas, Drew Demitra Kavanaugh will be baptized at St. Stephen’s & the Vine! We will welcome Drew into the Household of God and promise, as a Christian community, to do all in our power to support Drew in his life in Christ. We will also celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany that day, with the Gospel from Matthew and the beloved carol about the Magi visiting the Holy Family. I am really looking forward to concluding Christmastide with this wonderful morning of celebration!
On January 11, 2026, at 9:30 am, we will celebrate the Baptism of our Lord in ecumenical community with several other North County congregations at Zion Lutheran Church, 123 Carson Road, Ferguson, MO 63135. I will be the preacher and Deacon Loretta will serve as the deacon, so there will be familiar faces on the altar! Zion is located just a few blocks from us and already supports our Food Pantry. After the ecumenical service, we will have a potluck and conversation about the possibility of expanding shared ministry initiatives for the benefit of our wider community. Again, please note that the ecumenical service at Zion on Sunday, January 11, 2026, will start at 9:30 am.
Jesus’ baptism was different from Holy Baptism as we now understand it for human beings in the Church. Jesus’ baptism, which is recorded in all four of the Gospels, marked the beginning of his public ministry. In the Gospel of Matthew, which we are reading in this Church year, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, despite John’s objections, to “fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus’ baptism was followed immediately by God’s proclamation, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
Whether we were baptized as babies, as Drew will be, or as adults, as my husband Jonathan was, Holy Baptism is a profound reminder that, like Jesus, we are ALL beloved children of God, and we are full members of and ministers in Christ’s body, the Church. When an infant like Drew is baptized, it is up to the older Christians around him – his parents, godparents, grandparents, congregation – to help raise him into the full stature of Christ.
When an older child or adult is baptized, they may be able to make the Baptismal promises themselves, but they still rely on the rest of the Christian community to uphold them in their life in Christ. While baptisms may have been “private” for a while in some places in the Episcopal Church, I rejoice that we always perform Baptisms during principal worship services now. Supporting the newly baptized in their journey of faith is the responsibility of the entire Christian community. Renewing our own Baptismal Covenant at each baptism and on major Feast Days reminds us that the Baptismal Covenant is the foundation of our own faith and our own ministries.
May both Drew’s baptism on January 4 and the Baptism of our Lord on January 11 remind us that ALL of us are called to love and serve the Lord as ministers in Christ’s Church.