'Sadness' as church rejects baptism changes

Patricia Barker says she hoped some positives would come from the vote

A Church of Ireland parishioner has said she is saddened that her attempt to stop ministers refusing to baptise children of single or unmarried parents has failed.

Patricia Barker submitted the motion to the church's Synod, which makes church laws.

Currently it is up to individual clergy to decide whether or not to baptise children of single or unmarried parents.

The motion was passed by the lay members of the Synod but was rejected by the clergy by 72 votes to 69, meaning it failed.

'Appalled'

Ms Barker told BBC News NI she brought the motion because she was "appalled" that some parishes were not baptising children if their mothers were not married.

"In Ireland we’ve come through a terrible period of victimising women using terms like ‘fallen woman’ in relation to unmarried mothers and I genuinely thought we’d moved on," she said.

"I felt saddened and let down when the motion was rejected. I feel the result really doesn’t represent the church I belong to which is one of inclusion over exclusion."

She said she hoped it would shine a light on what she described as a "bad practice".

'Impaired engagement'

One of the clergy who voted against the motion was Archdeacon of Derry the Venerable Robert Miller.

He said in 30 years as a Church of Ireland minister he had never denied baptism but instead took it as an opportunity to "welcome, engage and disciple".

Archdeacon Miller said he opposed the motion as he did not believe a minister should be told they "must" baptise.

This, he said, would have "impaired this engagement between minister and parishioner – an engagement built on trust".

"The shared commitment to love, to pray, to teach and to be an example – made in the baptismal liturgy – is made within the fellowship of the church," he said.

"I still believe the motion was unnecessary since the Church of Ireland’s generous orthodoxy around the sacrament of baptism is already enshrined in the canons.”