The rite of baptism gets big press on Wednesday (Oct. 23) when Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will christen Prince George, a future king of England.Welby has made it a teachable moment for a country where only one in six are baptized. In a YouTube video, he explains that by bringing their son forward for baptism, Prince William and Duchess Catherine are “bringing God into the middle of it all…”
Set aside that one in five Americans today say they have no religious identity. Even among those who do claim a denominational label, “there is a de-emphasis on practicing faith,” said the Rev. Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee.
“People want God but they’re not happy with churches,” he said, so rites such as baptism are victims of an “anti-denominational, anti-institutional, even anti-church era.” ...