The words 'One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism' were painted over the baptistry of the church where I was dunked. It is a fantastic baptistry - large, deep, wide and (importantly, in my view) the water is lovely and warm!! The words are, of course, a teeny extract from Ephesians 4, but they seem to speak in a way of what we are going to do a week on Sunday when we borrow one congregation's building and baptistry heaters from two others to overcome the incredible coldness of the water. OK, I'm, nesh, I admit it, though I have swum in the North Sea which contrindicates.
Granted the post title is a clumsy blend of the apostle's words and a later hymnwriter (Edward Hayes Plumptre Thy hand, O God, has Guided), but I think it works.
One church - one tradition in several locations (it gets further complicated as one baptistry heater will be collected from an intermediate venue!) and part of the world wide church
One faith - that unites us whether we are in Leicestershire or Nottinghamshire, Cheshire or Timbuctoo
One Baptism - well, yes, literally one for us, but our heated water will also serve three or four others the same day in the same building.
There seems something theologically right about the messyness, manyness, borrowedness, sharedness, impermanence, permanence, connectedness, interconnectedness, separateness and even, dare I say, Baptistness of what we are involved with. Somehow it earths, grounds, demonstrates, illustrates what the apostle said. And it will be good to be part of it.