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Baptism and Church Architecture:
What message are you sending?
Text by Joan Huyser-Honig
Photography by Steve Huyser-Honig
Bowl, font, pool. Sprinkle, dip, soak. No matter what age your church baptizes people, ask yourself this: How consciously are you living your baptism as a way of life, not just an event?
Think back to when one of your loved ones was baptized. If your strongest memories are the christening gown, whether the baptized person cried, and what you ate at the baptismal brunch—then you may be interested to hear that there’s a lot more to baptism.
Many of us have learned to think of baptism as a very special, essential, one-time event. However, congregations from several traditions are exploring ways to help members understand baptism as a lifelong identity reaffirmed in weekly worship.
Revisiting the theology and meaning of baptism is especially important for congregations that are building new worship spaces or renovating existing sanctuaries. Even if your church is architecturally content, you may find ideas from other congregations to enrich how your local church practices and remembers baptism.
Christians are baptized with water and in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Traditions vary as to how much water you need to baptize. Some churches accept only one type, while others allow more choices among:
 This baptistry's size and placement speak without words. Photo courtesy of St. David's Episcopal Church. |
Soon after becoming rector of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Ashburn, Virginia, Kevin A. Phillips began to realize “that the baptismal pool is a symbol very much alive among the people.”
When they built a worship space in 1999, St. David’s wanted to recognize the centrality of baptism in the Christian life. You can’t miss the combination font/immersion pool in the center of the sanctuary.
“The baptismal pool runs until after the processional hymn and again after the blessing. People hear the water coming in and going out. It receives a lot of attention from children, which often generates a ‘teachable moment,’ ” Phillips says.
Before Immanuel Lutheran Church built a new church in Big Rapids, Michigan, they hired a liturgical consultant, Bryan Schneider-Thomas.
 Immanuel Lutheran's narthex lets God's people physically surround the person being baptized into the community. Photo courtesy of Bruce C. Dilg. |
Immanuel member Bruce C. Dilg recalls a seminar on baptism where the consultant explained how the practice has moved from Jesus being baptized in the River Jordan…to separate baptismal rooms…to baptismal pools…to baptismal fonts. Schneider-Thomas facetiously suggested that wetting a finger on a tongue to baptize would be the easiest, least expensive solution.
Dilg, who teaches architectural technology at Ferris State University, also works as a sole practitioner in architecture. After Immanuel chose his bid from among more than a dozen architectural proposals, Dilg kept thinking about “the importance of water to the whole Christian experience.”
The congregation had an antique font, restored by a deceased member, in the front of their original sanctuary. They decided—after much controversy, study, and discussion—to go with Dilg’s baptismal design, which included putting the new font in the new narthex.
Immanuel Lutheran’s octagonal font is made of the same brick used on the church exterior. “The octagonal shape symbolizes the eighth day, which is the first day after creation, the first day of [resurrection] life,” Dilg explains.
A boulder fills enough of the font so that children can’t fall in. Water piped up through a boulder flows back into the font.
Bruce C. Dilg |
“The font is a visible and constant reminder of the importance of water, its looks, its sounds, and its smell, as you enter and leave the church. The water is constantly changing, like life, but the natural rock, upon which it flows, does not change,” Dilg explains.
Decide where to place the baptistry
Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo, Ohio, had an even older font than Immanuel Lutheran had. Trinity’s marble font, inscribed with one faith, one Lord, one baptism (from Ephesians 4:5), dates back to 1876.
 Trinity Episcopal Church made big changes with its font design and location. Photo courtesy Feinknopf Photography/Rogers Krajnak Architects. |
“It was in a corner of the nave, off to the right of the altar, with a brass rail protecting it. The font was like a relic in a museum. Maybe the first three pews could see a baptism,” says Peter Krajnak, who guided the congregation through its fifth renovation.
In 2003, Trinity expanded options for baptism by integrating the antique font with a new immersion pool. Its hexagonal shape symbolizes Good Friday (the sixth day of Holy Week). Its three steps in and down and three steps out and up testify to dying and rising with Christ.
“The blue tile inside the pool enhances the water within, while the gold mosaic tile around the exterior rim relates to the gold mosaic tiles on the historic altar. The longitudinal axis of the church connects the font with the altar, while the cross axis of the church connects the font with the columbarium,” Krajnak explains. (A columbarium is a niche in an outside wall for people’s ashes.)
Having built or renovated churches of several denominations, Krajnak says Trinity was “unusual in pushing the practice of baptism as far as they did. Bringing the pool and font to a significant position truly said something theologically.”
For Susan Lowery, Trinity’s associate for spiritual development, placing the baptistry near the columbarium “embraces birth and death in the same area.”
Lowery says its new place, near the church entrance, reminds people that “baptism is the basis by which we are called to ministry. It’s a beginning. Most often we gather the whole congregation around the font to begin worship, just as baptism is the beginning of Christian life.”
MARK TORGERSON on making more of baptism “When I was an Evangelical Covenant Church pastor, people off the street would ask for a private baptism. I explained we only do baptism in corporate worship. “That way we celebrate that there are real promises that the community makes to the child and the family,” says Mark Torgerson. Ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church, he teaches worship arts at Judson College in Elgin, Illinois, and consults with churches considering a new design or renovation. Regina Kuehn writes in A Place for Baptism, “The baptistry is an abiding reminder of what we once were, what we now are, and what we shall one day yet be.” That’s why Torgerson often uses the term Christian initiation instead of baptism.
“Baptism, simply, is Christian initiation into the Church, but sometimes we don’t think about it. Though some churches do baptism as a private event, most are moving toward doing baptism within corporate Sunday worship,” he adds. The words of baptism services within the Reformed tradition remind worshipers that baptism is a sign and seal of God’s grace on a journey that is both individual and corporate. The congregation promises to nurture the infant in faith. They pray the child will mature to confirm his or her baptism through profession of faith—and by following Jesus’ command to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In baptism, as in the rest of worship, words are not always enough to shape lives. “In the Protestant world today, we’re getting beyond the cognitive senses. I’m a real fan of making the font or pool visible or accessible to the whole group. Putting it near the entrance visually reminds us of our Christian initiation. Letting people touch the water kinesthetically reminds them of their baptism. “Some churches use holy oil with a baptism to mark consecration by the Holy Spirit. The oil is really fragrant. It’s a significant value that reminds all of us, ‘Wow! I’ve been initiated,’ ” Torgerson says. Objects can center a community Torgerson sees Christian faith as far more than a person’s relationship with God. It’s also seeing ourselves as members of Christ’s body, growing together in faith. In planning worship spaces, he advises congregations to accent the communal nature of the worship gathering.
This advice contrasts with the trend to remove traditional objects of church furnishings, such as communion table, baptism font, or pulpit, from the worship space. “Those objects can be visible reminders of who we are as members of Christ’s body. They mark significant focal points in the lives of Christian congregations. “Also, the way we provide for people to sit or move, especially whether we provide room for people to gather around these focal points—will limit or unleash the potential for accenting community in worship,” Torgerson says. He acknowledges, of course, that deciding to make the baptistry more accessible or use more water in baptism will require space around the pool to gather the congregation and rooms for people to change into robes. And that can get expensive. Author Regina Kuehn challenges churches reluctant to invest much time, money, or thought into liturgical symbols, including those used in baptism. “To come down always on the minimalist side in decisions about the liturgy makes a silent statement that says, in effect, ‘We really don’t want to get excited about God and the way divine life links up with ours. We would rather stay cool and detached and play down the signs of salvation instead of fully embracing them.’ ” In Re-pitching the Tent: Re-Ordering the Church Building for Worship and Mission, Richard Giles writes, “We need to see the water, touch it and hear it. Water should well up in our assemblies, splashing and gurgling, reminding us constantly of Jesus’ promise of a ‘spring of water welling up to eternal life’ (John 4:14). It should not be mean and mealy-mouthed but joyful and extravagant. It is water itself (not its container) which is the primary symbol of baptism, and it should be readily available to every member of the community entering the assembly.”
Torgerson agrees with the plea for more water in church. “Shallow fonts tend to diminish the idea of washing, of a cleansing flood. It’s really hard to get a sense of that when baptism is done with a tiny bit of water. “Orthodox Christians tend to use quite deep fonts. Babies are usually naked. They’re dipped down into the water and are usually screaming mad when they come out, but they are baptized. It’s a substantial washing that reminds us we need to be completely washed, made new. “Using so much water is also true to the Pauline metaphor of dying and rising with Christ. When you use this visual metaphor, you don’t even have to say it,” he explains. Torgerson also says churches should think more about reminding each other of our baptisms. The Apostles’ Creed began as a baptismal creed, a way for the early church to hand on its faith to converts preparing for baptism. Saying the Apostles’ Creed in worship is a natural way to remind people of their lifelong formation within a community of faith. Torgerson proposes another use for the baptismal font. “Paul said, ‘Don’t come to the Lord’s Supper unless you are fully reconciled to one another.’ But most churches don’t have a place set aside for reconciliation. Could we use the baptismal font for reconciliation?” |
Don’t miss the bonus stories on:
- Theological reasons for baptistry shapes
- Ways to remember baptism in regular church worship and life
Invite a church architect to give an adult education seminar on baptism, as Peter Krajnak and Bruce Dilg have done in their own congregations. Liturgical consultant Bryan Schneider-Thomas also does seminars on baptism.
Consider reviewing one of these resources for your church newsletter and donating the book (or magazine subscription) to your church library:
- A Place for Baptism by Regina Kuehn
- Architecture for the Gods edited by Michael Crosbie
- Catechumenate: A Journal of Christian Initiation, published six times a year by Liturgy Training Publications
- Christ, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper: Recovering the Sacraments for Evangelical Worship by Leonard J. Vander Zee
- Faith & Form: The Interfaith Journal on Religion, Art and Architecture, published quarterly
- Re-pitching the Tent: Re-Ordering the Church Building for Worship and Mission by Richard Giles
Download a free pattern for making a baptism banner. Review these musical and written resources for baptism and renewing baptism vows. Get sermon ideas from Touch the Water: 30 Children’s Sermons on Baptism.
Order this book on infant baptism to use in a youth or adult education class. Listen to Joyce Zimmerman speak about Paschal mystery in baptism (scroll down to Afternoon: Theological Insights). Listen to an Inner Compass episode (about 25 minutes long) on whether to do baptism at infancy or later.
Plan to hear Mark Torgerson speak on visual arts and architecture at the 2007 Calvin Symposium on Worship. Torgerson is professor of worship arts at Judson College, Elgin, Illinois, and author of the forthcoming An Architecture of Immanence: Architecture for Worship and Ministry Today (Eerdmans).
Read William H. Brackney’s helpful summary of what Baptists believe about baptism. For an adult education class, you might compare it to Anabaptist, Catholic, Lutheran (Missouri Synod), Methodist, Reformed, United Church of Christ, or other denominational statements about baptism. Discuss which aspect of baptism each tradition emphasizes.
Browse related stories on art that preaches, church renovations, creeds, developing a faith vocabulary, and the Lord’s Supper.
Feel free to print and distribute these stories at your council, worship, or education committee meeting. These questions will get members talking about baptism:
- Does using the term Christian initiation as a synonym for baptism limit or expand your understanding of this practice?
- What messages does your church send in the way baptisms are done and in your baptistry’s design, placement, and accessibility?
- If you’d like to make water a bigger part of your church’s worship, explain how and why.
- What would you like worshipers to know and remember about baptism? How does your weekly worship reinforce this reality?
What is the best way you’ve found to help people enrich their understanding of baptism? Please write to us so we can identify trends and share your great ideas. Whether you do these or any other things, we’d love to learn what works for you:
- Did you organize a tour of local churches to learn about their architectural, worship, and theological decisions regarding baptism?
- If you added something to your baptism services, will you explain what you added…and why?
- Did you create new resources—perhaps visual, musical, dramatic, or liturgical responses—so that baptism is seen as a way of life instead of a one-time event?
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This article was first published by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, http://www.calvin.edu/worship/stories/.
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