An offline question led to the realization I’ve never actually discussed rituals for our parish. There is a sense in which we can’t do them. One, we don’t have anyone officially designated as our priestly pastor, someone to handle the ritual half of parish business. And while elders (me, for example) are permitted to perform some rituals, it is not specifically encouraged. It’s what we do when no ritual leader is available.
And two, there is the obvious: None of the membership is geographically close enough to engage any of the parish leaders directly. However, there is nothing in Scripture forbidding self-led rituals. It’s sort of a second-rate substitute for having a real church congregation in one physical location. In other words, it will do, inasmuch as we don’t take rituals that seriously. Christian Mysticism uses rituals as mere tools. The real need in a ritual leader is leadership.
There are four primary rituals. Two are presumed — marriage and burial. Those tend to be shaped by local custom and wishes of the participants and sponsors. Two are specifically ordained — baptism and the communion meal. As you might expect, the rules are highly flexible. For baptism, the whole point is ritual cleansing, so it won’t matter if you dunk or pour, so long as the person baptized gets substantially wet. It takes place when you feel you have hit a turning point and are making a fresh start. Repeat as you see fit. I see no point in doing it for infants and such, but there’s no particular objection, either. For the communion meal, while we all recognize the symbolism of bread and wine, it’s probably much more important to use typical local ingredients. So any grain without leavening and any juice, fermented or not. It’s probably a good idea to aim for annual observance sometime near the Hebrew Passover. More often is optional.
That’s as much guidance as you’ll get from me. The whole point of any ritual is to signify something to your own soul, and ideally in genuine spiritual communion with fellow believers. None of these rituals are tied to any kind of formal membership. Ask questions.
