Baptisms are seen as a key religious rite using water to symbolize spiritual cleansing, rebirth, and initiation into the faith community. Issues with water, therefore, can have an effect on the rite.
The Florida Department of Health in Lee County recently issued a water quality advisory for the Sanibel Causeway area and that put the brakes on a special baptism event planned for Saturday at the beach by the Ocean Church in Estero.
“This is a special event. So we started it last year and it was such a huge, kind of an eye-opening event for our church and people really got behind it. We just saw some really good movement in it," Kyle Strom, care pastor at the church, said. "And so last year was our first and then this year would have been our second at the beach.”
Before the event was cancelled, being at the beach and outside in nature for such an event as a baptism prompted a bit of preparation on the church's behalf.
"When it comes to that, it's more, preparation, we have more manpower, multiple people around, people that are getting baptized, making sure that the current's not going to take them or anything that's going to come around them, say, fish or anything like that," Strom said. "So yeah, there's definitely more of a presence with our staff and volunteers. There's many people in the water. So I think there's strength in numbers, when it comes to that."
He added that being outside for an event such as a baptism adds a special quality to the rite.
“I think when you get out in nature, and especially, I think, at the beach, you have the open water, I think it adds a different element to it," he said. "And I think, regardless where you have it, it is special. And it's that dying of the old and being raised to the new. But I feel like the outdoors kind of has a special context to it for sure.”
While the baptism won’t be at the beach now, Strom said Saturday’s baptism will still be held outdoors.
"We're getting two out bigger pools that we're going to set up. And obviously, we have filtration system in there. And so, we're super style. We're kind of making a big event out of it," he said.
Strom chalked up the move to God's will.
"There's a verse in Proverbs talks about we make our plans, but God directs our steps. And so I think we made plans, obviously, for beach baptisms, and we're super excited," Strom said. "We saw the success last year and how people felt charged about it. And so we were super excited going in to it this year. And then obviously, you know, just with the shifting of plans and the pivoting, we're going to have it here at our Estero campus. And we're going to have pools and kind of make that environment. And so we're not disappointed, but I know that the Lord's going to use it regardless."
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