When I was a pastor in a local church, anytime we would baptize a child, I would always conclude the service of the baptismal covenant with what is called “Congregational Pledge #2,” which is found on page 44 of the United Methodist Hymnal. Here are the words that we, the people of God in that place would speak in unison together:

With God’s help we will so order our lives

after the example of Christ,

that this child, surrounded by steadfast love,

may be established in the faith,

and confirmed and strengthened in the way

that leads to life eternal.

These words represent a series of promises we made as individuals and as a body, promises that would determine how we would live at church in the world, promises that would guide us when we were together and when we were apart. These promises would help the world see who and whose we were.

Prior to making this pledge, I would tell the congregation that these words were the thirty-nine most important words in the hymnal, and that by saying them together, each of us would forfeit our ability ever say “I don’t have children in this church” or “My children are grown and live elsewhere,” or “I don’t have children at all.”

In the strange and wonderful way in which God forms families out of clay, God had formed, and was forming us as well. We were a family. These were our children.

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