River Baptisms

Below is a picture of my dad doing his first baptism...and the news article that came with it. It was in the Wenatchee World today...
Nine-year-old Jack Myers stood waist-deep in the Columbia River with nose pinched, eyes shut and heart open to receive Jesus. Seconds before his baptismal dunking, two wayward fish — traditional signs of a living faith — zipped past his legs.
“Hard to miss the symbolism,” said a smiling Mike Henry, Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Wenatchee’s Free Methodist Church and officiate last Sunday for the congregation’s annual river baptism service. “Those fish came out of nowhere.”
But that’s the way faith often works, said several adults in a group of 13 baptismal candidates — ages 6 to 60 — who publicly professed their commitment to Jesus and his teachings before a crowd of nearly 200 church and family members. “You don’t expect it and — whoosh — there it is,” said candidate Blaine Davidson.
The river-dunk baptism, a biblical standard and local church tradition for at least 10 years, allows for a larger crowd and more informal presentation in a natural setting, says the pastor. “It makes everyone feel good — through song, prayer and witnessing of these renewed commitments.”
The service was held in 95-degree weather in the swimming area at Kirby Billingsley Hydro Park in East Wenatchee while weekend swimmers — sunning in bikinis, floating on inner tubes — looked on.
Serving more than 1,800 members each week in two services and youth ministry gatherings, the Free Methodist Church also offers at least two additional baptisms spaced through the year in the church’s more formal baptismal font indoors.
In the week prior to the river baptism, Henry prepped baptism candidates for the ceremony by asking them to ponder questions about their faith and personal relationship with God.
“We aren’t looking for this to be an emotional decision,” said Henry, a few days before the riverside service. “We want people to think this through and be in the right frame of mind. At the river, no matter how jubilant we get, there’ll be no spontaneous baptisms.”
On Sunday, Henry introduced the candidates to a beaming crowd.
“This is a profession of faith and a public declaration of our love for Jesus Christ,” said Henry in a pre-baptism address under one of the park’s shady picnic shelters, 100 yards from the swim area. “Through the actions of these devoted, we can perhaps renew our own commitment to faith and the Lord in our lives.”
Henry paused, casting his gaze down the line of candidates. “Make no mistake, this is a powerful and profound thing we are doing.”
Davidson, 31, told the gathered about his “dark journey, lower and lower, to reach the point where everything that could go wrong in a man’s life did just that. I hit rock bottom. I was lost.”
That was nine months ago. At his lowest point, the Wenatchee man said, he realized that earthly support and encouragement wouldn’t be enough. With the help of a mentor and guide — church member Steve Bishop — Davidson said he “surfaced from the darkness to reach a place I could receive revelation. I gave everything over to God and haven’t been the same since.”
The river baptism, said Davidson, is his public declaration “that I claim victory with Jesus in my life.” The candidate said he was excited about entering the river and renewing his commitment. “I’m ecstatic,” he said. “I could stand on the highest hill and shout to God and everyone here that I’m ready to be reborn.”
Amber Davis of Wenatchee said she’d been baptized as a child but now felt the need to renew publicly her faith and commitment to Jesus. “I was in a gray area and not where I should have been spiritually,” said the 29-year-old. “This (the river baptism) is a good step towards being closer to the Lord.”
Davis’ two sons — Akira Lindsey, 9, and Taber Lindsey, 6 — were also baptized alongside her in the river ceremony.
As for Jack Myers, the 9-year-old with the fish swimming past his legs, the river baptism allowed him to emerge with new thoughts about his relationship with Jesus. “I guess I feel different,” said Jack. “I feel I should act differently, maybe do more God-like things.”
Jack, son of soon-to-be missionaries Devin and Bridget Myers of Wenatchee, wasn’t sure he could live up to the demands of baptism and the subsequent blessings, said his dad. “He was worried that even though he was baptized, he might still be mean to his brother,” said Devin. “But I explained that baptism would bring him closer to God, sure, but that he’d still be human — and humans aren’t always perfect.”
The Myers family ship out in December for two years of missionary work in Nigeria.
That leaves, perhaps, the most important question of the day: Was the water cold?
“Yes,” said Jack, who had just changed into dry clothes. “But it was just right. It felt good.”