It is so exciting that tonight at church we have Bishop Jackie coming for a baptism and confirmation service. We have had many over the years. In swimming pools, with giant inflatables, in a freezing stream on Dartmoor. In church with an inflatable pool and a cream tea. Tonight everyone is invited to join us for dinner (it's curry) before we move into the service. Candidates, the church and their families will all join together to eat before we celebrate with them this wonderful moment in their faith.
Sunday 24th November 2013
Laura got baptised today. She is a bright, bubbly drama student. She seems to be always laughing and smiling. Over the past year she has gradually got to know us and trust us. God has steadily been drawing her back to this point, drawing her back into a living relationship she knew as a child. Today she publicly acknowledged her faith before friends and family. It was a big deal for her. She wanted to share her testimony, but not all the details. She felt the need to be honest without revealing everything. I knew how nervous she was, but I doubt few others realised. The drama student in her won through, and she spoke clearly and confidently. She let us in on her journey with a trust and vulnerability that was amazing. She made us laugh with her. She trusted us with her struggles.
She told us that when she was younger she had gone to church every Sunday, and loved it. She had loved learning about all the amazing things that Jesus did for everyone, she loved learning that there was a God out there watching over us. At that time church was a place where she felt safe. Then, before Laura turned twelve, everything changed. A series of events led to her father leaving her family, and from that point on, in her words ‘everything was wrong’. Her family fell apart, her life was torn to pieces, she stopped being able to trust. Her faith disintegrated as she couldn’t understand why it had all happened – why God had allowed it. In her pain and confusion, she stopped going to church. She was hurting and there was nowhere safe any more. Through her teenage years she managed to hold her life together, although it took all her strength and determination not to fall apart. She thought that she needed to be strong for everyone. She didn’t trust in anything or anyone but herself.
In January of this year she met two of our team, Ben and Alison, on the Cathedral Green. Apparently their first conversation was not a huge success. Laura was not at all keen to talk to them. During the conversation they did manage to invite her to Unlimited, but she really didn’t want to go with them. However, after they left she was intrigued, and in the end she came to visit us just to see what we were like. She told us, ‘I’ve never met such a wonderful group of people!’ From that first contact she started to come along more often. She loved our joy, and our love and excitement. But nothing changed in her life, she was still relying on herself, her own strength. It took a bit of a drunken breakdown for her to realise that she wasn’t living her life how she should have been, and at that point she accepted Jesus back into her life again.
Her life didn’t change radically overnight. Every day continues to be a struggle. But what has changed completely is that she now knows that she’s never alone. That she doesn’t need to rely only on herself to do things. She is learning to trust again. She has found that love and joy she had as a child when she went to church. She has rediscovered her fascination with the Bible and how it speaks to us. But most importantly of all, she feels safe again. Safe with God – knowing that He is with her always.
I will never forget her bravery in sharing, trusting us with her story. I will also never forget the location. Baptism in the church building was something we have struggled with. Using a font with adults bending over doesn’t seem to fully convey the symbolism of dying and raising to new life in Christ. Previously we had borrowed a baptistry. Both filling and emptying were not trivial. We considered, briefly, going to the seaside. We discarded it quickly as being way too chilly in winter. So in a moment of brilliance, or madness, I suggested that we should indeed be unlimited by culture and tradition and we should hire a local swimming pool. Many local pools were available for birthday party hire on a Sunday afternoon, so that is what we did. After the formal service, and the very strange acoustic in which we worshipped, the pool was transformed by a giant inflatable obstacle course. The whole church (almost) jumped in, and the party and the fun continued. It was an unforgettable, unusual day of celebration.
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