New Articles
New Temporary Library Completed
Current Newsletter featuring Recent Short Term Teachers
New Source for the book "Mission in an African Way."
Journal Of African Instituted Church Theology
"Baptism Today"
Now Available for Purchase
Dr. Oduro recommends this book in order to increase understanding among believers of our shared rite of baptism. The rite that should unite, but more often divides Christ's church. His article describing the view of many African Instituted Churches is included.
(From the author's forward) "Baptism Today offers a survey of the understanding and practice of baptism in a wide range of Christian churches and contexts today. The collection is guided by the conviction that the understanding and the practice of baptism are inseparable, that the rite itself and its meaning for both the believer and the Christian community can be understood only when the two are held together: the theology of baptism does not exist apart from its liturgical expression, and the liturgy shows forth the faith of the church.
My aims in gathering this material are several: 1) to provide information, presented by persons from the church or tradition concerned, on baptism as perceived and performed across the spectrum of Christian churches and contexts today; 2) to offer, wherever practicable, not only each church’s account of baptism but also the (or a) baptismal liturgy in use in that church today; 3) to strengthen awareness of baptism as the foundation of our unity within the one body of Christ; 4) to encourage reflection on the relation between the various theological understandings of baptism, and the actual baptismal practices of the churches today; 5) to promote understanding among Christians of their own baptismal life, and that of other churches, as a contribution to the greater mutual recognition of baptism among the churches today; 6) to contribute to overcoming divisive differences in the baptismal understanding and practice of the churches today; and 7) thereby to promote the renewal of the churches in their common confession, worship, witness, and service today."
Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Best, editor of this volume, is a pastor of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and retired as Director of Faith and Order, World Council of Churches, in November 2007.
Click to view and purchase the book from Litugical Press.
Quoted recommendations from the website:
"This is a wonderful book for any person interested in understanding where the Churches and the global society are today on baptism. At the same time, it challenges our mind presenting the agreements and distance among the Churches in this crucial issue of our faith. I think it is the most important contribution of the last decade for those who work in a pastoral level and an unavoidable tool for research and teaching."
-Dr. Pablo R. Andiñach, Instituto Universitario ISEDET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
"In the years since the publication of the Faith and Order document Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, ecumenical discussions have come to include significant attention to the actual liturgical practice of baptism and the actual significance of that practice for the lives of Christian believers and for the unity of the church. Time and again, at the heart of such discussion has been the gracious and insightful leadership of Thomas F. Best. Now those discussions and that leadership come together in this excellent collection of liturgies, commentaries, survey articles, ecumenical agreements, and careful articulations of the many remaining challenges. The result is a book that cannot be ignored by anyone interested in thinking about Christian baptism in the present time."
-Gordon W. Lathrop, Charles A. Schieren Professor of Liturgy Emeritus, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Highlighted AIC Churches
