Will You?: A Lenten Study of Baptismal Promises

by Amanda Perkins McGriff

When we are initiated into the church with the water of baptism, we (or our sponsors) answer a series of questions called the Baptismal Covenant. The first three questions echo the words of our creeds, our beliefs about God and the church. The last five questions focus on action. They each begin with the "Will You?"

These "Will You" questions articulate how we are to animate our baptism, to follow Christ's example in our relationships with others, our communities, and the world. These questions move from a "gathering in" to a "sending out"--they are a call to embrace and practice evangelism by proclaiming the Good News of Christ in all we do and say.

This five-week Lenten small group study offers daily reflections, examples of evangelism in action, and an invitation to think in new ways about the promises we make to God, each other, and ourselves in baptism.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion

100 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2023

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This study reframes evangelism within the bounds of the Baptismal Covenant. The commitments we make in our baptisms offer a guide to the way we are to interact with the world and the people around us. The newly baptized promise to be disciples in community with each other; to repent of sin; to proclaim the Good News; to look for Christ in all people; and to strive for justice and peace. Every one of these commitments has something to say about evangelism, and that is what we will explore together.

Amanda Perkins McGriff's slim Lenten Study Will You? addresses the five "will you" questions set within the Episcopal Baptismal Covenant. While the book provides some real, substantive inspiration and thought regarding our role as Christians in shining forth the love of Christ in our world (not to increase church membership, not to inflate ego, but to scoot our broken world a little closer to Heaven), much of it is bland, failing to provide genuine insight on its chosen theme.

There's an immaturity within this work. The framework is enticing, a good idea; the theme is worthy of deep reflection. The issue with this study is it is inconsistent and avoids challenging the reader. The author needed more time to experience the challenges and pitfalls of evangelism before publishing this. It's mostly "here's a great quote from a great book I read" and "here's a portion from our Book of Common Prayer" and "here's a great website from the National Episcopal website with great resources." This study would have benefited immensely from an author with a deeper understanding of the challenges of integrating our Baptismal Covenants into our daily lives.

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baptism in the Episcopal church almost always occurs during regular Sunday worship, allowing two important things to happen: First, those present in the congregation affirm their support of the baptismal candidate be it an infant, child, or adult. Second, it offers an opportunity for all in attendance to renew their own baptismal vows, something that was most likely done originally on their behalf by their parents and godparents when they were infants.

This book by Amanda Perkins McGriff is a thoughtful and powerful examination of five of the eight questions asked in the Baptismal Covenant. The first three questions concern belief, a restatement of the Apostles' Creed, while the last five questions are about action:
1. Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?
2. Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
3. Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
4. Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
5. Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

Each of these questions is answered with the powerful response: "I will, with God's help." We are never alone in this.

This very short book is designed to be read daily over a five-week period during the liturgical season of Lent and includes reflections, personal stories, history, and theology, as well as scripture, hymns, and liturgy. The closing passage each week is a prayer. Each daily section takes just a few minutes to read, but longer to ponder.

While this is wonderful to read on your own, the book is ideal as a Lenten book study with others (which is how I read it), as it sparks insightful conversations and ideas about evangelism that help us share our stories and share our faith with others.

[Denisele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Take my review with a grain of salt because I didn't realize this was episcopalian when I picked it up and I'm not episcopalian...I liked the concept and breaking down each question into a week. I thought there were some interesting and good resources referenced/linked for further review. I just didn't feel like it connected me to the season of Lent or prepared me to celebrate Easter in any profound way. The length of each day's reflection was very short, which is good and bad.

[Sharon L Carveth · Rating 3 out of 5]

What it did was very good -- thinking about what our baptismal vows mean and how we should think about them. What I found lacking was it did not include the week including Ash Wednesday, nor did it include Holy Week. I found it an incomplete Lenten Study. But the five weeks in between those weeks was thought provoking.