The Baptismal Font - Mrs Eliza Robina Gordon

The Baptismal Font was the gift of Miss Eliza Hughes Gordon and Mrs Jessie Taylor in memory of their mother Eliza Robina Gordon.

The Font of Cararra Marble imported from Italy and the bowl of hand chased silver was dedicated by the Rev. J R Blanchard in the Flinders Street church in September 1952. In 1956 it was transferred to Scots Church North Terrace. The marble font was built in Adelaide by Mr D. Lewis and is a replica of one donated by Queen Elizabeth to a church in Scotland.

The bowl was executed by Louis Some, a Frenchman from Sydney, aged 81. He completed the work on the bowl on Friday 29^th June 1951. That weekend he had a severe heart attack and died. The bowl of hall marked silver is entirely hand wrought. On the rim are undulating lines representing water. The spaces between the undulations are chased to represent running water (“living water” in the Bible means running water). There are four panels each bearing an engraved symbol.

1. An Iona Cross – symbolising our Scottish heritage.
2. The opposite panel is engraved with the Southern Cross indicating we are in an Australian church. The star recalls the star of Bethlehem.
3. This panel is engraved with a Fish, a traditional symbol of the Sacred Name. The letters of the Greek word for fish (ICHTHUS) represent Jesus Christ Son of God, Saviour. (The sign of the fish was a secret pass-sign for Christians in the early days of the church, when it was dangerous to be a Christian).
4. Opposite the fish is engraved the badge of the World Council of Churches, symbolizing that baptism is not denominational, but into the whole world wide church.[i]

[i] Womersley, A. 2001, 150^th Anniversary TALK Magazine souvenir issue, Scots Church Adelaide