As it’s St Fillan’s 900th anniversary I’m looking at Rev. Rutherford’s children’s address, where he talks about the history of the church, this one is for 21st May 1967, and he is talking about the font (and the Trinity!).
Last week we talked about the Crosses on the walls which you may not have noticed before, today I’m talking about another Cross you may not have noticed, it is on the bottom of the bowl of the font.
The font itself is very old. It was discovered amidst the ruins of the church and narrowly escaped being broken up and built into the walls. Luckily that did not happen and here it is today. Possibly, when the church was first built, the font was not standing where it is now but near the door, because it was the custom to baptise children as they were brought into the church. It is interesting to think of all those children that have been baptised through so many centuries from this massive stone bowl.
The silver bowl, that sits in the stone font, is not old, it was made in 1926 when the church was restored. Many people contributed to the restoration, the children of the church gave the silver bowl. It was made in Iona, and has round its circumference a Celtic intertwining design, and in the centre a Celtic Cross. From this you were baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
You have not been baptised in three names, just one. Some of you have three names, such as Robert James Smart. Your friends at school call you Bob, your mother and father may call you James, and your teacher may call you Smart. They are all referring to the same person. Maybe that will help you to understand why God has three names, to remind us of his three ways of dealing with us.