Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism - National ...

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8. Given our mutual recognition of Baptism, we encourage using baptismal registers in the
local church community and, when requested by another church for a pastoral need in the
life of an individual, providing written attestations of Baptism, including the liturgical
formula used. Such cooperation and mutual accountability honors the dignity of the
sacrament of Baptism.
We rejoice at the common faith we share and affirm in this document. We understand that the
journey toward full, visible unity depends on openness to the grace of God and humility before
the initiatives of God‘s Spirit among us. Because of these convictions, we encourage Roman
Catholic and Reformed pastoral leaders to continue their commitment to regular dialogue about
theology and pastoral practice from local to international settings. Pastoral leaders engaged in
such dialogue embody our hopes for unity, collaborative effort, and common witness. We
believe that respectful dialogue can provide a strong witness to the wider church about our
commitment to a relationship in Christ and can stand as a safeguard against the unreflective
judgments that have, at certain times in our history, diminished and distorted our relations.
3. Historical Overview: Perspectives on Sacramentality
The following sections describe both the history and theology of baptismal rites in the Reformed
and Roman Catholic communions. Two different investigatory methods are evident in the work
that follows: (1) an historical approach (especially Section II), narrating each communion‘s self
understanding relative to sacramental practice, as developed over a given timeline, and (2) a
liturgical approach (especially Section IIIA) that offers each communion‘s own account of the
Church‘s interaction with God in the celebration of the rites themselves. The observations which
follow are made only of Roman Catholic and not of Eastern Christian baptismal rites.‖
The following sections describe both the history and theology of baptismal rites in the Reformed
and Roman Catholic communions. Two different investigatory methods are evident in the work
that follows: (1) an historical approach (especially Section II), narrating each communion‘s self
understanding relative to sacramental practice, as developed over a given timeline, and (2) a
liturgical approach (especially Section III) that offers each communion‘s own account of the
Church‘s interaction with God in the celebration of the rites themselves. The observations which
follow are made only of Roman Catholic and not of Eastern baptismal rites.
Historical Introduction
The Reformed and Catholic communions share a common tradition about sacrament.
They rejoice over what they uphold together and they understand where they evaluate the
tradition differently. Their common tradition begins with the apostle Paul and the Greek word
mysterion (―mystery‖) as found in Paul‘s letters (e.g., 1 Cor. 2:1; 4:1; Rom 16:25). There the
word referred to God‘s hidden plan for salvation. The developing Pauline tradition (e.g., Eph.
1:9; 3:3, 4, 9; Col. 1:26-27; 2:2) took up this theme and proclaimed that this ―mystery‖ is
embodied in Christ, in whose sufferings we share (e.g., Col. 1:24-2:3). 1 From there, early North
1 See, for example, Günther Bornkamm, Mysterion, in Gerhard Kittel, ed. Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Vol. IV (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967)
803ff.
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