Taking the Plunge
Seeking, Accompanying, Baptising
- Evangelism & Missions
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2011
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Publisher's Description
The early twenty-first century is the time for the churches to take seriously a holistic form of evangelism, an approach of accompanying and helping searchers become engrafted into the Christian community. This task is urgent since no longer is western culture supportive of faith forming. Furthermore, evangelism that just explains Christianity is clearly not enough. An interactive process is needed that involves inquirers and congregation members proceeding with participants' questions and concerns in a supportive group context. Accessing gospel stories in an intuitive method the process entails rich spiritual encounters and leads to participating in the Easter event and Baptism (dying and rising) as the heart of belief and commitment. This practice of initiation into faith is often called the "Easter Journey." Parallels with the fourth century are sketched since the Church at that time was also on the cusp of being the established religion of society and was keen to hold a distinctive witness in the empire. Likewise, in our times, evolving Christian social witness needs to be a focus of any evangelistic/formational process. The experience of the author in the Australian context provides the background of this book. His conviction is that as congregations accompany inquirers they become strongly oriented in discipleship. Welcoming people into the community of faith in this edge-centre dynamic, gives rise to fresh directions of Christian life. Six such directions are explored.
Endorsements (3)
“Taking the Plunge is a refreshing and challenging way of looking at preparing adults for baptism. It's full of meaningful historical sources yet speaks to the present and makes you dream of the future. The author's lived Christian experience is the thread holding the chapters together. I loved the whole book! We are plunged into community, prayer, service . . . into life.”
“As a bishop I have learnt that baptism is a divisive issue within the Church. Some expect baptism as a 'right.' Others believe there should be all kinds of preparation with hoops to be jumped through! This book carefully guides us through baptism as incorporation into Christ. We are offered a theology that is easily grasped within the context of early Church history including the centrality of the Catechumenal process. Ron invites us to seek inquirers and offers some faith engaging tools. This book is a must for all clergy and those involved with preparing adults for baptism.”
“Solidly grounded in the practice of the Australian Anglican Church this book deserves a place among the resources for the ministry of initiation in any Christian community. Author Ron Browning offers a vision of initiation that plunges seekers deeply into the life and faith of a church that exists to witness Christ to the world. Readers will have their understanding of initiation deepened by the richness of this vision.”
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