On July 22, Jackie was baptized. Her baptism is the story of a single mother in her mid-thirties who has two children and who a year ago had surgery for a brain tumor. The baptism was a combined effort of Jackie, her family, the church, people from the church who have been involved in Jackie’s life, the local YMCA, and the local nursing home where Jackie is currently receiving care.
When Jackie first began discussing baptism, she had been living at home for a few months following her surgery. Due to her physical condition, our church baptistery would not accommodate her needs, but another church had a baptistery that would, and they agreed that we could use it. Then, before we could make the arrangements, Jackie fell, was admitted to the hospital, and then transferred to a nursing home.
Due to the nature of her condition, everyone agreed that we should proceed with the baptism rather than waiting. However, now we would need to find a place to baptize her that would accommodate taking her into the water in a wheel chair. Consultation with the nursing home confirmed that they did not have facilities that would meet the need. Their administrator did, however, assure us that they would assist and provide transportation for her if we could find a place for the baptism.
We knew that the swimming pools for our three local YMCA facilities all had ramps, so we consulted with a contact at one of the YMCA’s. He was willing and able to work out the arrangements for use of the pool at the appropriate YMCA. He did so on a Thursday within a couple hours of our initial conversation, with the baptism planned for Saturday or Sunday.
While we had assurances from the nursing home that they would help with arrangements, we then had to work with them to get everything scheduled. A Friday meeting with one of the nurses put those steps in motion, including a call by the nurse to Jackie’s doctor for approval. After consultation with Jackie’s family the time was set for Sunday afternoon and was confirmed with the YMCA.
On Saturday afternoon a group of fifteen to twenty of Jackie’s family and church family gathered at the side of one of the YMCA pools. As we gathered around Jackie, read Romans 6:3, 4, and heard her confession of faith, the lifeguard kept the ramp area clear of those using the pool for an open family swim time. Then, two of us began to back Jackie’s wheel chair down the ramp. When the water was high enough, we lowered the back of the wheel chair into the water, and baptized Jackie.
I was told later, that as we backed Jackie down the ramp, everyone in the pool area became quiet and watched. When we began to lower the chair back to baptize her, two of the children swam over to the railing separating the ramp from the pool, held to the railing, and watched. As we began to wheel the chair out of the water, the people from church sang “Now She Belongs to Jesus.”
We needed some help to reposition Jackie in the wheel chair as we wheeled her up the ramp. Two of the church ladies, waded into the pool to assist, and two of the men swimming with their families came over to assist.
As Jackie’s van driver wheeled her chair from the side of the pool, I saw one of the most powerful scenes that I have witnessed at any baptism. Jackie’s family and the people from church formed a line, and her chair had to stop at each person as each one gave her a hug. In my sermon that morning, I had discussed Luke 16:9 – “Make friends for yourselves [who will] welcome you into eternal dwellings” – and encouraged people to make friends and influence people who will one day welcome them into heaven or who they will welcome into heaven. The line of people on this Sunday afternoon welcomed Jackie with that spirit into God’s family.
This baptism was a cooperative effort that included two community service organizations. This baptism was a witness to Jackie’s family and the families swimming together at the YMCA. May the people of the church and the ministry of the church always reflect such a witness in our communities.
