Christian Ritualizing and the Baptismal Process: Liturgical Explorations Toward a Realized Baptismal Ecclesiology: 174 (Princeton Theological Monograph)

Most people even non-Christians know that Christians gather for worship once a week and that they are right there to support each other when there is a baptism or a wedding or a funeral. But what about other poignant vulnerable or life-changing times? How does the church help people handle changes that in the past in Christendom were considered secular? Does the church have a role at retirement when ones ministry changes or when a familys children leave home and familiar patterns seem to grind to a halt? Is there any rite possible for someone who is called to Christian ministry but not to ordination? Or to someone whose vows are broken in divorce? Christian Ritualizing and the Baptismal Process asserts that baptism marks the beginning of a process of participation in Christs ministry so that no part of life can finally be considered secular. Susan Marie Smith shows how every passage healing and ministry vocation is holy and she lays the groundwork needed for every church to create the rituals necessary to lament and celebrate the endings and beginnings that happen in every Christian life.