TJieodore W. Jennings, Jr. The Meaning of ... - Quarterly Review

Evangelization, then, becomes crucial in the life of the community
that emphasizes adult baptism as the norm.
But what happens to a person once she/he has been a
precatechumen, a catechumen, baptized, and given first communion?
The Roman Catholic RCIA describes the immediate post-baptismal
period as "the time,..during which the newly initiated experiences
being fully a part of the Christian community by means of pertinent
catechesis and particularly by participation with all the faithful in the
Sunday eucharistic celebration." 12
Methodism has a tremendous
resource to offer in the post-baptismal period through the small
group structure developed by John Wesley. As Knight points out,
"Wesley also insisted Methodists remain in classes after their new
birth. The accountability to a common discipline was essential
throughout the Christian life." 13
Thus, catechesis does not culminate
in the moment of baptism. Rather, the life of holiness expressed
during catechesis is just beginning for the newly initiated.
Wesley's development of classes, bands, and select societies
should, then, inform what we as Methodists do after our initiation.
Such a method for continued discipleship was very important for
Wesley. In fact, his concern for remaining faithful after baptism has
led to controversy among Wesleyan scholars concerning his
understanding of baptism. In his sermon "The New Birth," Wesley
claims that "the new birth is not the same thing with baptism, so it
does not always accompany baptism... A [person] may possibly be
'born of water,' and yet not be 'born ofthe Spirit'." Wesley then
goes on to say, "A child is born of God in a short time, if not in a
moment. But it is by slow degrees that [he/she] afterward grows up
to the measure of the full stature of Christ." 14
And yet elsewhere
Wesley claims that "by water then, as a means, the water of
baptism, we are regenerated or born again. . ," 15
And so comes the
problem. How can Wesley claim that we are regenerated in baptism
(in a context where infant baptism was the norm) while saying that
baptism is not the new birth? Ole Borgen attempts to address the
problem in this way: "[TJhe grace of Baptism, as all grace, may be
lost.... It is possible to deny one's baptism: [so Wesley says:]
'Whenever, therefore, you give place to him (the devil) again,
whenever you do any of the works of the devil, then you deny your
baptism'." 16
Wesley believed that the life of holiness was an active
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