Churches Sign Agreement on Recognition of Baptism

On 29 April in Magdeburg, the Revd Christopher Jage Bowler, Area Dean of Germany, represented the Council of Anglican-Episcopal Churches in Germany (CAECG) at the signing of an historic agreement on the mutual recognition of Baptism. This is a remarkable achievement and an important step along the way towards the goal of visible unity. The other 10 signatory Churches were:

• The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
• The Armenian Apostolic Church in Germany
• The Evangelical-Old Reformed Church in Lower Saxony
• The Herrnhuter Brethren
• The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church
• The Evangelical Church in Germany
• The Evangelical Methodist Church
• The Orthodox Church in Germany
• The Roman Catholic Church
• Old Catholic Diocese of Germany

The text of the agreement is below.

Christian Baptism

Jesus Christ is our salvation. Through him God has overcome the distancing from God of sinners (Romans 5,10) to make us sons and daughters of God. As part of the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, Baptism means the new birth in Jesus Christ. Whoever receives this sacrament and acknowledges in faith the love of God, will be united with Christ and also with his followers of all times and places. As a sign of the unity of all Christians, baptism binds us to Jesus Christ, the foundation of this unity. Despite differences in the understanding of churches, there exists between us a basic agreement on baptism.

Therefore we recognise every baptism carried out according to Jesus’ teaching in the Name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Ghost with the symbolic submersion in water or pouring of water and rejoice in every single person who is baptised. This mutual recognition of baptism is an expression of the bonds of unity in Jesus Christ. (Eph 4,4-6) Baptism carried out thus is unique and cannot be repeated.

In the Lima Declaration we acknowledge: Our one baptism into Christ constitutes a call to the churches to overcome their divisions and visibly manifest their fellowship. (Report of the Faith and Order Commission, World Council of Churches, Lima, Peru, 1982, Baptism paragraph 6).