2007 CHILDREN'S BAPTISM SERVICE
On Sunday, April 15, over 200 family and friends gathered in the RBC Sanctuary to celebrate the baptism of: Jeremiah Bergman, Ruthanne Bice, J.D. Birks, Hannah Blasdell, Rachel Blasdell, Robert Brown, Joshua Cummings, Abigail DeVido, Hannah DeVido, Mary DeVido, Caleb Elkins, Camryn Hayden, Trent Hayden, Trevor Hayden, and Jenni Reimann. The testimonies were quite emotional for both the candidates and those attending, as they are always a wonderful evidence of God's grace at work in the life of His children!
The RBC baptism services continue to bless those who participate and attend by providing a warm and inviting atmosphere for both testimonies and celebration.
As the service began Pastor Jeff McCann greeted those in attendance and asked God's blessing on our time together. Erik Palmer then led everyone in a time of worship as the congregation joined in praise singing "Your Grace Is Enough" and "Sing to the King." After the worship time, Eugene Catedral, the Director of Children's Ministry, called all of the candidates up on stage to pray for them before they came to the microphone to give their testimony.
This baptism service had several additional blessings, one of which was Jenni Reimann, a student of the ESL Ministry here at RBC, who was baptized along with the children. Jenni has been attending RBC for over a year now and has been working with Susan Morinaga, the Director of the ESL Ministry. In October of 2006 Jenni trusted Christ as her personal Savior and prayed with Susan. Since Jenni will be going home to Germany before the next adult baptism, she asked if she could participate in the Children's Baptism because she really wanted to be baptized at RBC. We were very blessed to make that happen. Jenni gave her testimony first and after she was baptized, all of the children came forward one by one to give their testimonies.
The other special blessing in this service was that many of the children's fathers also participated in the actual baptizing of their children and will be co-signing the Baptism Certificates. The fathers stood by their children as they gave their testimonies, and then prayed for them before going up to the pool to do the actual baptizing. In the case of more than one sibling in a family being baptized, all of them gave their testimonies and then went up the pool together to be baptized. Each staying in the pool as their other siblings were also baptized.
After the testimonies and baptisms, Jeff McCann, our Jr. High pastor, took a few minutes to beautifully explain baptism and the Gospel. He invited anyone who had not placed their trust in Christ to do so at the end of the service. Jeff then closed the service in prayer and invited everyone to the reception in the Welcome Center. The reception time is always a wonderfully encouraging time for the candidates, as their family and friends celebrate with them. This is also a time for everyone to meet and congratulate the other candidates.
We were very blessed by the service of Kemper Ruffner of the Children's Ministry, who planned and oversaw the reception. Dan Hogarty was our photographer and he captured some wonderful shots of the service. He is also available for other photography jobs and can be contacted at dan.hogarty@gmail.com. Shelley Ryan was the sound tech and recorded the service. And many of the parents also helped with the before-service volunteer needs. As always, we could not make these baptism services special without the help of our much-appreciated volunteers. Thank you all so much!
If you are interested in learning more about being baptized at RBC or if your Shepherd Group would like to assist at our next baptism service, please contact Cheryl Ryan, Special Ministries Coordinator, at cherylryan@restonbible.org. And please visit one of our baptism services in the near future. You will be greatly blessed!