Bound Together
Baptism, Eucharist, and the Church
By Shawn O. Strout
Seabury Books, 224 pages, $29.95
The relationship between baptism and Eucharist is a contested issue in our church. On one side, some say that in a pluralistic world, the gospel mandate for hospitality demands that all people, even those who are not baptized, be invited to receive Holy Communion. On the other side, some say that Scripture and Church tradition demand that we first invite people to the font and then to the Holy Table.
Listening to conversations—or, sometimes, yelling at one another—it quickly becomes clear that there isn’t much space for shared agreement on terms, nor is there much grace. In Bound Together: Baptism, Eucharist, and the Church, Shawn Strout provides both clarity and grace.
Strout is clearly and decisively on the side of preserving the Holy Baptism as the sacrament of inclusion and Holy Eucharist as the sacrament of nourishment for the body of Christ. But his book opens with a sympathetic treatment of the arguments of those who advocate Communion without Baptism. Strout concludes that its advocates are attempting to solve real problems the church faces, such as a narrow view of baptism, but with an “incorrect” method as the solution.
The book then moves through a survey of the history and theology of the relationship between baptism and Eucharist, starting with Scripture. Strout considers some of the Scriptures cited in the debate, such as the feeding of the 5,000, concluding that a fully contextual reading of Scripture reinforces the traditional order of baptism before Eucharist. The chapter on Scripture is excellent in its balanced reading on this contested issue, encouraging both proponents and opponents of Communion without baptism to engage in a more nuanced and generous reading of Scripture.
After looking all too briefly at scriptural foundations, Strout moves on to a brisk history of baptism and Eucharist in the church. He rightly points out the practice in the ancient Church of first baptizing catechumens and then inviting them to table fellowship. While the order remained consistent throughout the Church and its history, the primary meaning of baptism shifted over time and space, focusing on purification, unity, or eschatology, among other things.
In this context, the project of the liturgical renewal movement of the 20th century stands out for its attempts to reconstitute a unified initiatory rite closely tied to the eucharistic meal. Strout does not break new ground here, rather providing a brief synthesis of scholarly examinations of Church history and the development of liturgical theology.
The final part of Strout’s background survey is a look at the current rites in our prayer book. There he notes that while there is no rubric in the prayer book demanding Holy Baptism before Holy Eucharist, the rites are inextricably tied in a way that would not permit this practice. This is an excellent response to the sometimes-cited claim that the prayer book does not specify baptism before Eucharist. Perhaps the rubrics do not, but the rites do.
Finally, Strout turns to the central argument of his book: the best way to understand our church is through the lens of a baptismal-eucharistic ecclesiology. After reviewing several alternative ecclesiologies from our history—including national, baptismal, and eucharistic—Strout convincingly argues that “a baptismal-eucharistic ecclesiology clarifies the indissoluble bond between baptism, Eucharist, and the Church.”
After articulating this ecclesiological vision, Strout looks at the ecumenical implications of this conversation, suggesting that Communion without baptism would jeopardize the ecumenical possibilities of a complete union of the church. In this chapter, Strout also addresses John Wesley’s frequently misunderstood teaching about Holy Communion as a “converting ordinance.” Wesley is speaking of Holy Eucharist as a way to convert latent Christians into active disciples, not as an encounter for unbaptized seekers, of which there would have been very few in the 18th century.
Bound Together should be essential reading for every bishop, church leader, and parishioner who desires a deeper knowledge and practice of the sacraments. If the book has shortcomings, they come because of the vast sweep of ground that Strout covers in the survey chapters, each of which could be expanded to a multi-volume set. Still, this quick tour through big issues and long history invites a general reader into a conversation that has sometimes seemed accessible only to professional scholars.
Our conversations about eucharistic hospitality would be grounded more deeply if this book were widely read. As Strout concludes: “The indissoluble bond between baptism and the Eucharist makes the Church. The bond is a deep bond that not only connects baptism and the Eucharist but also connects each member of the Church to them.”
The Rev. Canon Scott Gunn is executive director of Forward Movement.
