Matthew Byrne - Church Fonts

T HE N ATIONAL C HURCHES T RUST is the UKs charity for church buildings. Our work helps to ensure that the nations shared heritage of churches, chapels and meeting houses remains in good repair and open for worship and commun ity activities.

We want to ensure that the priceless treasures inside churches, many of them pre-medieval, can contin ue to amaze us.

One of the most important architectural features inside a church is the font. This is where the life of a Christian begins: in the baptismal waters we see the reflection not just of today but of the life to come. Its not surprising, therefore, that the most highly skilled sculptors and stonemasons have worked on the cre ation of fonts.

For over forty years Dr Matthew Byrne, a Friend of the National Churches Trust, has been visiting the churches of the UK and photographing them in superb detail. We are delighted that in this book he has been able to share with a wider audience some of the best examples of his photographs of fonts and to tell the story of why they ar e so important.

The UKs church heritage is unrivalled anywhere in the world. It is important that we do everything we can to make sure that it remains there for future generations to enjoy. One way of doing that is by visiting churches and helping other people discover their glories. I hope that this book (and also our ExploreChurches website) will hel p you to do so.

Claire Walker, Chief Executive, National Churches Trust

F ONTS FOR THE rite of baptism, or christening, have been an important feature in Christian churches for nearly 2,000 years, ever since the time Christians were able to worship in public in the Roman Empire. The word baptism comes from the Greek baptismos meaning immersion, dipping or submersion. Just as water is the basic means of physical cleansing the Christian Church has used water in various rites as a symbol of spiritual cleansing. The symbolism pre-dates the Christian religion; it was used in the ancient religions of the Mediterranean world and the East. Before the time of Christ Judaism did not use the word baptism but practised a rite of immersion as an act of moral cleansing and for the reception of proselytes. Thus in Ezekiel 36:25, Yahweh says, I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed: I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your sins. In the period immediately before the start of Christs public ministry his cousin John the Baptist was preaching the imminence of the Messiahs arrival and performing baptisms of repentance in the River Jordan and elsewhere. Christ himself came to John and received baptism from him, and at this moment John recognised Jesus as the Messiah, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. Throughout three years of His public ministry Christ referred on several occasions to a time after His resurrection when people who came to believe in Him would receive a new rite, one resembling Johns baptism but with an entirely new significance, not merely symbolic. The Christian sacrament of baptism would then bestow the Holy Spirit on the recipient and His gifts would enable them to live Christian lives. In John 3:5, Christ tells His listeners, I tell you most solemnly unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In one of His final meetings with the apostles before His ascension into heaven, Jesus instructs them (Matthew 28:19): Go therefore and make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teach them to observe all the commandments I gave you. And in Acts 2:38 the apostle Peter writes, Every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is because of this belief in Gods gift at baptism that the Church has attached such im portance to it.

The twelfth-century baptistery at Pisa, the grandeur of which emphasises the importance given to the sacrament of baptism in the Christian Church.

The apostles and the first disciples baptised people by total submersion or partial immersion in natural waters, rivers, lakes or pools (Acts 8: 2739 ). It was only after the Emperor Constantine legalised Christianity by the Edict of Milan in 313 and later made it the official religion of the Roman Empire that Christian worship was centred in public churches, cathedrals and basilicas. In larger buildings so much importance was attached to the sacrament of baptism that special buildings baptisteries were built alongside them for the administration of the rite. With a wealthy patron these were massive structures designed by distinguished architects of the time, generally circular or polygonal and ornately decorated. Constantine built a baptistery for members of his family when he gave the bishops of Rome, the popes, their first cathedral of St John Lateran in 325. Such baptisteries, often larger than many churches, were built during the next 1,000 years. Outstanding Italian examples exist today at Parma (late twelfth century), Florence (late eleventh century, originally fifth century) and Pisa (twelfth century), the latter forming a splendid trio with the cathedral and leaning tower.

Initially the method of administering baptism in these places followed as far as possible that of earlier times in natural outdoor waters. Sunken pools about 2m square and 1m deep below floor level enabled total submersion of the recipients.

In the pre-Constantine era baptism was offered only to believing adults. But already by the time of the first baptisteries Christian parents had wanted their children to be baptised in infancy, taking the required affirmations of faith on their behalf. For this, smaller structures were needed and alongside the pools baptismal fonts were created (Latin fons , a fountain). In these fonts, baptismal water was received by affusion, i.e. pouring over the head only. The general form of these fonts has altered little over two millennia, with a small circular basin of stone, metal or ceramic mounted on a stand of convenient height. However, at least one church of the Reformation, the Baptist Church, held to the practice of baptism administered by submersion to faith-affirming adults and it has continued this to the present day. In the early twenty-first century the Archbishop of York has similarly performed baptisms of adults at Easter outside the main entrance t o York Minster.

The full-immersion font at Cranbrook (Kent) was installed by a Georgian vicar in an unsuccessful attempt to attract Baptist Nonconformists back to the Anglican Church. It was only used once.

In England the detailed construction of fonts has followed an evolving pattern reflecting the architecture of the churches and this allows them to be dated with reasonable accuracy. Fonts are usually situated at the western end of a church, at the entrance, symbolising the entry of the recipient i nto the Church.