“One Lord, one faith, one baptism”

Ephesians 4:5

Last Sunday, I had the distinct honor to baptize Irene Uno.  She said that she had thought about being baptized for a number of years and that now seemed the perfect timing in her personal life to take this step.  That is why we had an outdoor service last Sunday so that we could accommodate this auspicious moment.  Irene thought we were going to have to wait until the spring time, but we wanted to make this happen sooner than later.  So how does one do a baptism during a time of Covid-19?

It is done with a socially distanced, small gathering of family members with masks.  We joked that we would need a squirt gun to administer the water, but instead a delicate gathering of tied rosemary, dipped in water was sprinkled on Irene in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Irene affirmed her desire to be baptized by saying, “I do.”  Additionally, it was so powerful when I asked the congregation if they would encourage and support Irene in her baptism and new phase of her faith journey.  We asked the Parkview congregants watching on Facebook Live to type in “We do!”  It was so powerful hearing all of the people saying “We do!” along with all of the other sweet comments.  It was so powerful that it brought tears to my eyes.  Even though we are apart, we are still connected because we are the one Church of the one Body, the one Cup and one Baptism.