A news story set in a Catholic church has zipped around the world, leaving confusion in its wake.

The Rev. Andres Arango for decades said “We baptize you in the name of the …” instead of “I baptize you in the name of …” After diocesan officials found that out, they said last month that people who Arango baptized aren’t technically Catholic. That means they weren’t eligible, from a Catholic point of view, for other sacraments. — Washington Post

I have no interest in commenting on Catholics practicing Catholicism, but it does bring up some interesting thoughts about Unitarian Universalism.

Historically, both Unitarianism and Universalism were Christian denominations, but baptism was never a significant issue for us, as it was in other denominations, where fights broke out about infant vs. adult baptism, sprinkling vs. immersion, etc. The one theological issue that did give them pause was what baptism meant for their faiths that rejected the doctrine of original sin.

Some Unitarians and Universalists rejected infant baptism because of its association with original sin and others simply gave it other meanings, or devised their own ceremonies, especially so that the positive potential of each child was affirmed and the Trinitarian formula did not have to be invoked. The Universalist Manual (1839) declared that baptism was neither ‘necessary’ nor ‘obligatory’ and when baptism was used, the following words were suggested: ‘I baptize thee in the name of the Lord Jesus, and into the faith and profession of his holy religion.’ — The A to Z of Unitarian Universalism, Mark W. Harris

Nowadays, baptism is only done for UUs who request it, wanting to explicitly claim Christianity as the dominant part of their spiritual journey. For babies and children, we do a “Child Dedication Ceremony” which has a very different message than baptism. And it is on this that I have been smiling in bemusement at the recent story on the Catholic Church and Rev. Arango. We are so very different!

The issue for the Catholics is that by saying “We baptize you…” it is felt that this implies the church community holds some role in the baptism. They reject this – the baptism comes strictly from God (in their belief structure, God and Jesus are the same … but don’t ask me to fully explain that, let alone the Holy Spirit part. Our theological ancestors rejected the trinity and I am glad it freed me from that task!)

Contrast that with our Child Dedication, where community is the entire point! I do not do child dedications for families who are not members of Live Oak. Oh, I’m happy to do another ceremony, such as a naming ceremony, but a Unitarian Universalist Child Dedication without a community … well, it’s impossible. It wouldn’t make sense.

In the child dedication, it is not the child who is being dedicated to the church. That goes against everything we hold dear about consent and self-determination.

Rather, it is the church that is willingly dedicating itself to the child. We dedicate ourselves to nurturing the child and supporting their individual spiritual journey.

We receive you into this community and dedicate ourselves to you, to nourish your growth in body and spirit, to provide examples of faithful living for you, and to support your spiritual development in the principles of our Unitarian Universalist faith. — Live Oak UU Church Child Dedication ceremony

Look at that. The very first word is “we.” And rest assured, those dedications won’t be revoked!