The Language of Baptism: A Study of the Authorized Baptismal Liturgies of The United Church of Canada, 1925-1995

Worship in The United Church of Canada has received very little scholarly attention and liturgical analysis. Moreover, scholarship in liberal liturgical traditions lacks sufficient methodologies to examine the complexity of this type of practice. This definitive study of the first four generations of baptismal liturgies of The United Church of Canada examines the group’s history and theology, evolution and implications from 1925-1995. The Language of Baptism is both a case study of worship in The United Church of Canada, and part of the on-going scholarship in Christian initiation. It employs a method of textual and contextual commentary, using primary and secondary sources, including liturgical texts and archival material. Detailed source commentaries and theological analysis, placing the texts in the context of the liturgical controversies of the day, provide a window on the liturgical ethos of the United Church and offers a Canadian Protestant perspective to the ecumenical study of Christian initiation and contemporary liturgical history. Associated chapters place the textual revisions in their historical, theological and pastoral contexts, providing a view of the character of each era of liturgical practice.