Baptism Statement: Will Clancy

Tell us your faith story. 

I didn’t grow up in a particularly religious household. My dad grew up in what I understand to be a nominally Catholic family, and religion has never seemed to be important to him. My mom was born to a Jewish man and a woman from a very Catholic family who had more or less left the church. When they had my mom and her sister, they simply chose not to get religion involved in the situation. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, when my parents had children, they also decided not to get religion involved. It was always made clear to me growing up that I could choose to follow whatever religion I wanted later in life, in perhaps the same way that I was told I could choose whatever career path I wanted when I was an adult.

I experienced a broad variety of religious experiences growing up. When I was young, we celebrated Pesach/Passover once or twice after my grandfather died. Years later, I remember asking my mom when we would celebrate Passover again, but we never did. I attended a private school in England, which occasionally took us to religious services at what I presume was the Church of England. When we did, I remember loving the music, the stained glass, and the opportunity to get out of the classroom. After one service in which “Lord of the Dance” was played, I hummed it around my house for weeks (likely to the annoyance of all my other family members).

As I got older, religion became more important to me. I began to feel like I was meant to be part of something bigger than me, and that I was meant to follow something larger than me. As a teenager with access to all the information on the Internet, I began exploring religion. I spent time in spiritual and pagan communities, amongst Hellenic Polytheists and Wiccans. They were all wonderful communities and experiences, but they were removed from me—separated by the Internet, we weren’t really in community in the same way one is when belonging to the same church. And these places and communities didn’t fill me, at least not for very long.

I began branching out towards more organized religions, albeit somewhat hesitantly. As a queer person, I wasn’t sure if there was a place for me in mainline religions. I considered returning to Judaism, but never did. I spent time in Quaker meetings, listening for the light to speak to me. Eventually, much to my horror, I began to consider that perhaps I should spend time in Christian churches. The idea unnerved me. Queer people in Christian churches? I wasn’t sure that was a thing one could do. I began to do research—right around the time when I found I was accepted to UW–Madison—and discovered that there would be several welcoming Christian communities on campus. Hesitantly, I kept researching and resolved to see what was going on when I arrived on campus.

The rest, more or less, is history—I arrived at UW–Madison and almost immediately became part of two Christian communities (Pres House and St. Francis House) where I was encouraged to deepen my faith in God without leaving my identity or my skepticism at the door. I was encouraged to read voraciously from the Bible, from other texts about religion, online, etc., about Christianity and Jesus. I found a community of friends and fellow students who were also wondering about faith. I took up leadership positions, preached sermons, and was eventually baptized into the Episcopal Church in 2024. And from here, we can only wait to see where things go.

Why have you chosen to reaffirm your baptismal vows? 

I was baptized just over a year ago now in the Episcopal Church, so to some people (and sometimes even to myself), it might seem silly to seek a reaffirmation of baptismal vows so soon. During the process of preparing for my baptism last year, I heard a story from the priest leading our classes about a parish she had once worked at. At this parish, there were classes available every year for people who wanted to be baptized or reaffirm their vows, and every year, the same person participated in the classes despite having gone through them the year before. I was struck by not only the fierceness of this kind of faith—a determination and commitment that I hope to bring to my own faith life—but also by the truth it contained. In baptism, we do not promise to be perfect but only promise that we will always return to God when we fall into sin. We are all sinners, and so I felt it was fitting that I should participate in the reaffirmation of baptism as a reminder of this.

Additionally, while I was baptized into the Episcopal Church, Pres House has also been an integral place for my faith to develop and grow in my time at UW–Madison. While I may be an Episcopalian at heart in many ways, Pres House will always be a spiritual home for me, and one with an undeniable influence on my faith life. In baptism, the community, the baptized, and God all make commitments to one another. To reaffirm my baptismal vows at Pres House is a chance to enter that same spiritual relationship with the Pres House community that I have in the Episcopal Church.

Christians use a variety of images and metaphors to describe the sacrament of baptism. Which is most meaningful to you, and why?

In my opinion, baptism is best described as a “mystical union.” The sacrament of baptism forms a union between Christ and those who are baptized: by participating in baptism, we not only come to literally share in the same experiences as Jesus (i.e., by participating in the same rituals that He did), but also spiritually come to share in the events of Jesus’ life. Long before we were born, Christ had already been born, died, and risen again from the dead. However, the events of Christ’s life are no less significant because we were not there to witness them. Through baptism, we not only relive rituals that Christ lived but also bridge a spiritual divide between us and Christ’s experiences.

In Romans 6, Paul tells us that we, too, die in baptism, just as Christ died on the cross. While we may not be crucified like Christ was, as faithful followers of his teachings, we are obligated to observe his commandments, to love our neighbors, and to be faithful to God—we are obligated to share in his life and his death. We likely will not experience the same things or undertake the exact same actions as Christ; however, we make vows to follow his commandments without reserve. If we keep those commandments truly, our life should resemble Christ’s. In this way, we are spiritually united to and bound up in the life of Jesus.

At the same time, how this union works is mystical—it is beyond our comprehension. The power is not in us to unite ourselves to Christ but is in God. And the exact nature of our spiritual union with Christ is unclear. Through prayer, contemplation, and surrender to Christ’s will, we can develop our understanding of that union; however, we will never truly comprehend or understand the union formed in baptism. Our relationship with Christ, our understanding of what it means for us, and our understanding of its spiritual realities grow and change as we walk with Him, bringing us closer to God. This mystery is part of the Christian life—to know that we are bound to God, and to wrestle our vows and commitments to God from being merely nice ideas into a lived reality.

Will Clancy (he/they) is a junior studying political science and philosophy.