At long last I am living up to the blog title, and undergoing baptism by total immersion. It may surprise some that one is able to be a leader in a baptist church without having had what is (incorrectly) known as a 'proper Baptist baptism'. Well, as far as I can gather, if you have the chutzpah to carry it off you do not need to have studied theology or even have a Baptist background to be a Baptist minister once you reach the hazier non-stipendary areas of Baptist ministry. Fortunately I am studying theology, and while I call myself 'non-denominational' when I'm feeling stroppy, I am happy to tick the Baptist boxes if it is deemed necessary.
Thus it was that over a year ago I put it to the church members that it would be nice if I could be baptised, and could it be at Easter, please. There was such a chorus of negativity about the complexity of the whole affair, and I was assured that the pool would be too cold for spring. By the time I was able to have further discussions it was getting towards summer 2014 and I lost the impetus, frankly.
So about January this year I resolved to have a second try. This time I took a different tack, and first contacted a local minister to do the deed, then arranged a date (June seemed safer, as less likely to be cold - or so I thought!).
Thus it was that a date was settled, invitations given out (which threatened to get seriously out of hand at one stage!) and plans for a meal were made.
It has all been a completely new journey for me; including the excitement of finding the only pool heater in the local Baptist cluster, finding an electrician to change the plug on it, and get it to church. Then the excitement of getting the pool opened up, and checking out how dirty it was - fortunately not as bad as I was promised. Since then the pool has been scrubbed, the hosepipe set up and a few extra chairs wedged into the church just in case.
I will probably be absolutely exhausted once the 'big day' is over!
