Note
BAPTISM PARAMENTS
The pulpit parament is based upon passages from the Gospels. The three tear drops are symbols of the water with which Jesus was baptized and reminds us of the Holy Trinity. The shell is a traditional symbol by which we are reminded of the water which John the Baptist used from the Jordan River to baptize Jesus.
The table parament is based upon the Old Testament symbol of the rock as found in Numbers 20:11. In I Corinthians 10:1-4 Paul says,
... our fathers were all under the cloud... and all drank the same supernatural drink, for they drank from the supernatural rock . . . and the rock was Christ.”
There is a parallel between baptism by cloud and sea as a symbol of deliverance from Egypt, and the baptism by water as a symbol of deliverance from sin.