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.