In a few weeks we will be celebrating what we have come to affectionately call our Baptism Palooza. It started as a creative way to facilitate baptisms as we were meeting in the temporary confines of Crestview Middle School where it was impossible to do baptisms by immersion in a ‘pool’ of water. Graciously Thomas and Fredda-Lois Loafmann offered their home and pool to us for baptisms. The Palooza has mushroomed into baptisms sandwiched in-between an outdoor (under a tent) worship service and an all-church buffet pot-luck with games, carriage rides, swimming, and an all-around good time as icing on the cake. Strangely enough, the Loafmann’s Morning Star Farm is just a mile or so west of our new building on the same road (Manchester Road).
In previous years, we had the ‘baptism palooza’ on Labor Day Weekend in an effort to miss the intense heat of July and early August, which unfortunately often conflicted with people’s travel and family celebrations. Realizing that you can’t successfully avoid heat and humidity in the late summer no matter what and desiring to include more and more of our congregation, this year we moved it to the weekend prior to Labor Day, August 28th. Even though our numbers have grown in the last few years Morning Star Farm can still handle all of us and it has always proven to be a very enjoyable time together.
The very act of baptism is a celebration in the highest order. It celebrates the redemptive work of Christ appropriated in the life of an individual who has surrendered themselves to His gracious and sacrificial death on a cross for their sin. In baptism we see the individual being identified with Christ in His death by being submerged in the water (only briefly we promise!), and being identified with His life by emerging up out of the water. They are washed clean by Christ in His death and made alive together with Him. Baptism is an outward expression of this internal truth. Baptism also celebrates the beauty of the individual being connected to the entire ‘body of Christ’ as an essential component. One way to see it is ‘the one becoming part of the whole’.
So, make plans to join with the Quest Family for the Baptism Palooza on Sunday the 28th of August, 10 am for worship, 11:15 for baptisms, 11:45 for a pot-luck lunch, games, swimming, carriage rides, and more. If you desire to be baptized and have not yet expressed your desire to us please take the plunge and contact Kevin Hughes at 314-623-2282.