Baptism & Christening 101

By Katya Cengel, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

RHODA, KY - Ten minutes from the tiny town of Smiths Grove, Ky., past the fields and the Jet Stop convenience store, is a little community called Rhoda.

Not a lot goes on here, but on warm Sundays between noon and 3 p.m., one of its otherwise empty roads is often lined with parked cars. Below the road, by Beaver Dam Creek, families dressed in their Sunday best gather under the shade of oak and hickory trees.

They have been coming for generations from as far as Bowling Green, Ky., 20 miles to the southwest. Robbie Cooper’s great-grandfather, grandfather and mother came here. Now Robbie, 11, is here, waiting to be baptized.

Trial by water

While other children splash in the shallow water on the top of the concrete dam, Robbie stands to the side clutching a white handkerchief. In a few minutes he will use the handkerchief to cover his mouth as his grandfather and namesake, Robert Carter, dunks him in the water.

The handkerchief is Carter’s, who says he remembers the day he was baptized here 36 years ago. At age 22, he says, it was a new experience, “something I’d never felt before.” Robbie’s mother, Anna Sanders, was also baptized here when she was 11.

His grandmother, Alice Carter, remembers her father baptizing people in the creek before it was dammed, before pews, a pulpit and a changing room were constructed in 1964, creating the Beaver Dam Creek Baptizing Center.

River baptism, Alice Carter says, is simply “our belief.”

It is a belief they know is waning as churches that practice baptism by immersion increasingly turn to the more convenient, less polluted and safer indoor baptismal fonts.

But at Kyrock United Baptist Church in Edmonson County, Ky., where family members belong and where Robert Carter used to preach, “we’re trying to hold on to what we believe and what we know,” she says.

What they know is that Jesus was baptized outdoors in the Jordan River. To go inside for baptism would not be following the Bible, says Bill Leonard, professor of church history and dean of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University.

For the Baptist, Pentecostal and Reformationist congregations who mainly practice outdoor baptism, he says, it symbolizes burying the old life and resurrecting a new one. “Living” or running water is often viewed as an essential part of the ritual because it signifies new life, Leonard says.

For Robert Carter, the reason is simpler: “You want to stay with what you know is real.”

And for him, nothing is more real than emptying his pockets, putting on an old pair of tennis shoes and wading into Beaver Dam Creek to baptize his grandson.

The way it has always been

Among the others being baptized on this day are Steven Hoffman, 14, and his brother, Todd, 10. They were saved - that is, they made a profession of faith that they’d been born again of the spirit of God - at a revival in March but had to postpone their baptism after Todd injured his right leg.

The boys are taking part in a joint baptism that includes their church, Green Meadows United Baptist Church in Warren County, and Kyrock United Baptist. Sitting in a front-row pew with their father, Michael Hoffman, the boys listen quietly to their pastor, Garry Watkins.

“What this represents today is showing outwardly to the world what’s already happened right down in their hearts,” Watkins says. About 100 people are sitting in the pews, sweat dripping down their backs, and an occasional fly hovering overhead. Watkins talks about how other churches have taken baptism indoors, how this group could be in the air conditioning today. But he says it is more important to keep as close to tradition as possible. Some men voice their assent. Robert Carter steps up to the pulpit.

“This way will continue into tomorrow and the day after, and it will never die as long as there are a few holding on to the old time’s ways,” he says.

The audience utters a collective “amen.” Then they get down on their knees, their heads bowed close to the ground, and pray. Their words overlap in an almost hypnotic way. When they finish, they sing “Amazing Grace ” while making their way toward the water.

Watkins leads Todd and Steven to the center of the stream where the water reaches above his waist. He utters a few words and dunks Steven first, and then Todd. The younger boy loses his footing and laughs as he surfaces.

Robbie is next. He holds the handkerchief over his mouth. Then his grandfather dunks him under the water. In a matter of minutes, the sopping boys, their hair sticking up at odd angles, make their way to the shore, where they are greeted with handshakes, hugs and congratulations.

Someone slaps Todd on the back: “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

Original source:
http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2007/10/28/features/religion/relig956.txt