A church without a font
Baptism is the ritual doorway through which we enter Christian life. So I always found it strange that one of my churches had no font. They only had a small silver bowl given to them by another congregation when they were a new church start, 40 years before I arrived. They only brought it out for baptisms, so there was no visible reminder of the sacrament in the sanctuary.
This fact troubled me so much, I started bringing in a big ceramic bowl and pitcher from my own kitchen for baptisms. But I realized something more permanent should be arranged. I asked the governing board if we might have a font designed and paid for from memorial monies. They had the money, but no one had the initiative to work on the project, so nothing happened.
After about a decade, I began to see my tenure at that church coming to an end. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving them without a font, so I made arrangements myself to hire an artist and woodworker, who fashioned a ceramic bowl and wooden stand designed to fit in the sanctuary space. One member agreed to review the design and, when it was approved, the governing board gave us the funds to pay for it.
