Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: SWIM (07/21/22)
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TITLE: Swimming and Baptism in One Easy Lesson | Previous Challenge Entry
By Mariane Holbrook
07/28/22 -
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Everyone in our small mountain community knew Miss Dottie, the town's genial librarian. She attended the local Methodist church, but when the church split over the radical appointment of a woman as the new pastor, Miss Dottie resigned as church treasurer and began attending First Baptist. While still an infant, she was baptized in the Methodist Church's ornate baptismal font. She was interested in joining Garden Creek, but Miss Dottie's fear of water prevented her from being baptized by immersion, a requirement for membership in the Baptist church. Finally, Preacher Poole, the Baptist pastor, promised that he would take every precaution to make her baptism both safe and spiritual. Miss Dottie agreed, and the event would take place on Homecoming Sunday in August.
The women's trio, "Ruby And The Sapphires," sang twice for the service and were prepared to sing more if they were asked (which they weren't). These three middle-aged women had sung together for over twenty years despite a standing joke wondering how three women could have sung together for so long and improved so little.
"Harry and The Holy Harmonicas" (four teenage boys) sang a moving medley of songs about water. This group wowed the audience by performing intricate Yo-Yo tricks while playing guitars and singing.
The pastor kept his sermon short to accommodate the various Homecoming Sunday presentations.
Finally, after the offering, the song leader led the congregation in singing, "Shall We Gather At The River," a signal that the baptism was about to take place. Preacher Poole slipped through the side door on the platform to change from his Sunday suit to the black choir robe he used for baptisms.
Miss Dottie, alone in the ladies bathroom, removed her Sunday-go-to-meeting dress and donned a black choir robe. She was barely five feet tall, and at her current weight, she bore a striking resemblance to the famous, beloved Pillsbury Dough Boy. When the congregation began singing the last verse of the hymn, Miss Dottie walked down the center aisle to the baptistry.
Carefully, Preacher Poole led Miss Dottie down the three steps into the baptistry, aware that the congregation could see them easily through the two-foot-high glass panel across the front. Miss Dottie's hands were cold and shaking.
When they reached the center, the pastor recited Scripture, talked about the need for baptism, then asked Miss Dottie to give a brief testimony. While she was speaking, her black choir robe began rising and spreading out like a giant, circular, fish-casting net over the ocean. Desperate to complete the baptism as quickly as possible, Preacher Poole reached out to pull the choir robe back down, steadied her, then placed a white folded handkerchief over her face.
"Miss Dottie, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost," he intoned and began to lean her backward when the unthinkable happened: he dropped her.
The congregation simultaneously jumped to its feet to better view the calamity. They saw two small, bare feet slapping and churning frantically through the glass panel at the top of the water. Miss Dottie was upside down in her white underwear, thrashing around in her ballooning black robe. Pastor Poole, searching blindly underwater for her, knew he must grab her but couldn't decide where.
Two deacons sprinted from their seats and jumped onto the platform to help with the recovery. Five teenage boys stood on their pew in the back of the sanctuary, straining to see the baptistry. Laughing and hi-fiving each other, they vowed never to miss another service in this wildly exciting church.
At last, Miss Dottie was pulled upright and was able to breathe. She let out a shrill, surreal scream and bolted up the baptistry steps into the arms of her waiting sister.
There was no closing hymn because no one could think of anything appropriate to sing.
On Tuesday, the Mountain Gazette printed an inside account of the baptism with the story headline: "Baptist Church Combines Swimming With Baptism In Innovative Service. Lawsuit expected."
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Excellent read.
Blessings~
For lack of a better word, this is an extraordinary Entry! Congratulations for a deserving win!