[Episcopal News Service] A central component of the liturgy for baptisms in The Episcopal Church is the Book of Common Prayer’s Baptismal Covenant, in which congregations make five theological promises to act in Christian ways “with God’s help.” Some congregations are adding a sixth promise to the Baptismal Covenant, acknowledging their responsibility to care for God’s earthly creation. “The church is moving more and more toward allowing experimentation in many areas, including this one,” Terry DeLisio, a lay leader in the Diocese of Chicago, told Episcopal News Service. She is helping to coordinate the northern Illinois diocese’s implementation of an expanded Baptismal Covenant in congregations that wish to try it. This experimentation is not unique to Chicago. The Episcopal Church’s General Convention for more than a decade has considered incorporation of the language of creation care into the Baptismal Covenant. In 2024, bishops and deputies passed a resolution directing church leaders “to develop additional language for the Baptismal Covenant that expresses our baptismal responsibility to care for creation,” and it invited congregations to experiment, with the bishop’s permission. Dioceses from California to Connecticut have taken up that mission, and the Diocese of Chicago announced recently that Bishop Paula Clark has granted all of the diocese’s congregations permission to begin adding a sixth baptismal promise starting next month on All Saints’ Day. Congregations were offered two texts to choose from and were asked to report back to DeLisio or the bishop’s office after testing the new language. The following are the additional questions offered as options for use in the Diocese of Chicago: “Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation, and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth?” “Will you cherish the wondrous works of God, and protect [or protect and restore] the beauty and integrity of all creation?” DeLisio, a retired Bexley Seabury dean and liturgy professor, said the diocese’s approach to this liturgical experimentation is partly modeled after the Diocese of Vermont, where congregations likewise were empowered to try out the additional language without needing further approval from the bishop. Vermont congregations also can develop their own alternative language and submit it for diocesan approval. Under the Baptismal Covenant’s existing language, the five promises are affirmed by the congregation in response to the celebrant’s prompts. The first two commit members to following Christian teachings and practices, resisting evil and staying faithful to God. The third calls for proclaiming the Christian faith in the world, and the final two promises relate to Christian interactions with other people. The addition of a sixth promise aligns with The Episcopal Church’s broader ongoing emphasis on creation care as one of its top priorities, as regularly affirmed by General Convention. The text of Chicago’s first option for an additional promise is based on the Anglican Communion’s Marks of Mission, a theological framework shared by Episcopalians and Anglicans around the world. The Fifth Mark of Mission says: “Strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth.” Chicago’s second option draws on language first proposed by Connecticut Episcopalians in 2015 at the 78th General Convention and introduced again three years later at the 79th meeting. Neither of those conventions gave clear permission to experiment with such liturgical additions the way the 81st General Convention now has. “The challenge has always been that the Baptismal Covenant is so central to the whole structure and theology of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer that people don’t want to mess with it willy-nilly,” DeLisio said. “At the same time, the church has come to the recognition that ministry and mission is not all about social justice. It includes justice for creation as well, and creation care.” Although congregations in the Diocese of Chicago do not need to seek further permission, their feedback on the use of the new baptismal promises could help the church decide whether to approve official revisions to the liturgy, DeLisio said. The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music was given the task of researching this topic and reporting back to General Convention. The commission will submit its report soon and could propose an additional creation-themed baptismal promise for churchwide trial use. Its proposals will be considered by bishops and deputies when the 82nd General Convention convenes in July 2027 in Phoenix, Arizona. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

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