Stories of Baptism

Let me start by saying not only do I respect the sacrament of Baptism, I think Baptisms are one of the greatest celebrations of the church that aren’t a regular annual celebration like Easter or Christmas.  This past Sunday we baptized 9 people over two different services.  It was an awesome sunday but it reminded me of baptisms past.  I am reminded of the first service we had when our church departed from the Episcopal Church USA, and became an Anglican church in AMiA. Wow, thats a lot of organizations and while you may be wondering what does all that mean, don’t worry, it really doesn’t affect the outcome of this story.  So on the first sunday as a new church, we had a few teenager baptisms scheduled. It was to be a great day in June (a few years ago) and we even had a Bishop at the service. So the great idea was to use a backyard pool outside to do full immersion baptisms. Nice. One of those pools that you can buy that is about 4 feet tall and has a ladder.  We put it together a few days early so we could fill it and let the water warm up a bit in the Florida sun.  Nice. Well on sunday it was ready to go. Everyone in bathing suits and into the pool. Bishop first, protocol I guess. Pastor next, but as he climbs the ladder someone shouts “cannonball”!  Now I am no diving expert, but standing 4 feet above the ground looking at 3 feet of water in a pool sitting on a brick patio seems to be calling for one of those signs that says “no diving or jumping”.  Perhaps it was the celebration atmosphere or maybe the willingness to serve, either way, without hesitation he did it.  Great cannonball I might add; big splash and good waves.  His tailbone was not so great. He hit bottom...both his own and the pool.  We did finish the baptisms, but haven’t used the pool since.

On another occasion, a Pastor at our church decided to be creative with the anointing oil.  Following the baptism, the pastor is to anoint the person with oil.  Some holy oils have scent, but ours did not. Why not add a scent, and why not be cinnamon? Cinnamon is already an oil so it probably mixes well.  When Pastor Joe anointed the baby with the modified oil in the shape of a cross on her forehead, we really gave her a reminder. She cried immediately and it was then we noticed the cinnamon had burned the skin to leave a lasting mark. Not lasting like days or months, just minutes, but the crying went with the mark so that helped the parents remember as well. At least it was a cross I thought, it could be worse.

Today I Became an Organ Donor

We have had an organ in our church since I came there with my family nearly 16 years ago.  We also had a Grand Piano but that is another story.   The organ was played at the early service by an elderly man who went to the early service. I used to think he was kind of a quirky man and then I went to his home one day for a church party.  In his home he had not one, but two organs. IN HIS HOME. Now I thought that was a bit strange, especially when one of them was a true pipe organ, complete with a set of very loud pipes in the living room.  The Music Minister before me was an outstanding musician, a pianist especially.  He would play the organ on many Sundays.  Since I took over as Music Minister or Worship Pastor, or whatever title works for you, I have not played the organ in a service. We have had a few fill-in players but mostly it collected dust.  So after 10 years I did some research and found our Rodgers 3 tier organ was built in 1963.  With most instruments that would be great, but the new technology in organs is MIDI, and digital interfaces made our instrument obsolete. Not a problem I thought. We can list in on Craig’s List and sell it for $500.  Not the case.  Instead, I had a Haitian Pastor with a strong French accent call me to inquire about the organ. He told me they were buying a new building and had nothing.  He wanted a good deal. So, thanks to a generous church, we decided to give him the organ and speakers.  He came today in a U-Haul truck and we sent it off. We also threw in the old sanctuary cross that used to hang in the church until we got a new one. The Haitian church was so pleased to have these things and he promised me a CD of his choir singing French/Creole praise and worship music. When I get his CD I will post a sample on my website.

Easter Sunrise Service

What a great idea! A sunrise service for the community of Winter Springs. How many other churches would want to help us do this? A chance to share the Good News of Easter in the community with the City endorsing our service! Well, nobody. Okay, not a problem. We can do it. What time should we start? A better question would have been, “what time will the sun come up?” We answered the first question with 6:30am. God answered the second question at 7:16am. So what if there are 4 verses to the first song we sang and the print is in 10 font and it is pitch black outside. Not completely dark however, the moon was directly overhead providing enough light to see about 300 people gathered from around Winter Springs in lawn chairs. Now I am not sure if they came to see what on earth we were going to do in the dark at 6:30 but there actually was enough light to see by 6:55 and we ended the service as the sun was coming up. Just like we planned it. Sort of. Our music and equipment was soaked from condensation, but the volunteers were having a great time with free Starbucks coffee and a surprising turn-out for last minute advertising. We put out signs 5 days before Easter. Why not earlier you ask? The city permits take 3-4 weeks to get permission to hang a sign. Oh yes, for an event that who requested?  The City.  In their City Park.