A liturgical two-fer!

Children to be baptised as their parents are married

The Church of England unveils a two-in-one wedding and baptism liturgy today as it seeks to make peace with families “living in sin”.

The “hatch-and-match” service allows couples to baptise their children after the wedding ceremony. Parents can even get baptised themselves.

The aim is to encourage cohabiting parents to marry as the Church tries to become more relevant to the way people live their lives, but critics said that it appeared to sanction having children out of wedlock. One bishop described the idea as “nutty”. The liturgy, costing £272, is being sent out to dioceses and parish clergy today.

Hmmm. Not sure what to say about that. I do have plenty to say about this paragraph later in the story though...

Stephen Parkinson, of the Anglo-Catholic group Forward in Faith, said: “The proper place for a baptism is not during a wedding but during the Sunday morning act of worship so the congregation can welcome a new Christian. It is a shame that what should be a bride’s day now stands to be hijacked by screaming kids.”

Um yikes. There is so much that is wrong with that statement: the "proper" place for a baptism is Sunday morning. That is Biblical for sure, "What prevents me from being baptized?" said the Ethiopian eunuch? "It isn't Sunday morning, you will have to wait" said Philip. Baptizing a child makes them a Christian? Um, no. The picture in the article shows a small child, a child that probably can't talk. Baptizing them is not welcoming a new Christian, it is getting a little kid wet. The wedding is the "bride's day"? Isn't there a dude there as well and isn't a wedding about a covenant before God?

What is really scary is that the Church of England thinks Episcopalians are too liberal!