As we have moved and served different congregations, we have discovered that there are a lot of similarities among the churches of the United Church of Christ. We also have discovered a lot of differences. Most of the differences are small and subtle, and many wouldn’t make much of a difference to the majority of members, but being pastors we notice differences.

The congregation in which we now are members has a tradition of making a big celebration of Epiphany Sunday. It is difficult to tell how old this tradition is, but I suspect it is rather new. At any rate today, being the Sunday nearest the day of Epiphany, is being celebrated as a special day, with those participating in worship receiving star words. This will be our third year of participating in this tradition. The first year was a bit different because the congregation was not meeting in person due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That year we received our star words in the mail. Last year and this year, we will pick up our star words in person during the worship service. Words are written on paper stars. Each person is invited to choose a star receiving a random word. The instructions are to sit with that word for the year and discover how it informs you life. On the following Epiphany Sunday, several members of the congregation will share their experience with their star words. I am unclear on why randomly assigned words are a part of Epiphany and don’t know what they have to do with the visit of the magi to the Christ child, but I have tried to understand.

My star word the first year was “plan.” It was a strange word for me because there was a lot about 2021 that was about figuring out to do when there is no plan. We had planned our retirement for 2020 and the way it all came off required a lot of improvisation due to the pandemic. I felt like retirement was, for us, almost the opposite of having a plan. We ended up going back to work part time in August. It turned out to be a very good thing for us, but it wasn’t what we had planned. We came to the end of September, when our lease on our rental house was set to close without having closed on the purchase of a permanent home. It all worked out. We extended our lease for a month at an increased price, we closed on our home, and we got moved. But it wasn’t exactly how we had planned.

My star word for 2022 was “longevity.” That word simply hasn’t informed much of my life. I am serving as an interim minister. My job doesn’t involve longevity. I turned 69, an age at which one is well aware of one’s mortality. I began to think more about legacy than longevity.

Not everything planned for congregations is meaningful to every person in the church. I accept that. I will draw a new star word today and hope that I can find more meaning in the process than I have experienced in the past. Sometimes one just has to give a new practice time for it to become meaningful.

One of the results of placing a big emphasis on Epiphany Sunday is that this congregation doesn’t make a formal observance of the baptism of Christ. Since the annual recognition of the story of Jesus being baptized by John in the wilderness and the stories of him receiving the Spirit and hearing God’s affirmation was part of our tradition for the first 42 years of our active ministry, having a year go by without such a service seemed strange.

Baptism is one of the things that I really miss in my new role. As a pastor, I had the privilege of officiating at the baptism of infants. Most years there were several baptisms. I have participated in the baptisms of four of my grandchildren and will participate in the baptism of the fifth this year. Baptism and the entrance of infants into the family of the church is an important symbol of renewal for me. The United Church of Christ recognizes only two sacraments: baptism and holy communion.

I have never seen water in the font at the church we now serve. There have been infants born into the congregation each year, but it seems to not be a tradition to baptist them. None of the youth in our recent confirmation preparation class had been baptized and none were baptized at their confirmation. That seems really strange to me. I know that the church is changing everywhere and that old traditions are being questioned and in some cases are being abandoned. I know that there are many paths of entrance into the community of the church. We encountered adults who considered themselves to be active members of the church who had not been baptized in all of the congregations we served. There are different ways to enter the community. Still, I really miss the ritual and ceremony of the sacrament.

I miss the annual celebration of the baptism of Christ. The Gospel of Matthew reports some ambivalence on John’s part with Jesus’ baptism. “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” he said when Jesus came to him. Jesus’ response was, “Let is be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” That exchange carries great power for me. Sometimes we go through the rituals of the church without having all of our theology worked out. Sometimes we engage in the behavior without having all of our beliefs in line. People can keep their questions and still be a part of ancient traditions. You don’t have to fully understand baptism in order for it to be meaningful and powerful. It is, after all, a sacrament. We don’t control the sacraments. We participate in them.

So I will go to church today. I will receive my star word. I will try to discover the meaning in this new-to-me practice. But I will also miss the sacrament of baptism and long for the day when it returns.