Small Church Baptizes a Dozen
News
Prairie Chapel celebrated the baptism of 12 into the universal church on November 6th. It was years in the making. Claire and Cody biked past the church one Saturday, looked for information on the web only to find none (Claire is now church webmaster) but persisted, began to attend and were married by Pastor Beth Duckworth. When their second child Edna Louise was born this year, they asked Lay Pastor Rick Matson to arrange for Edna to be baptized. Thus began the events that led to Sunday.
There was another couple in the church that had a 1-year-old. Matson had talked to them about having their baby, Patrick, baptized and they agreed. The mother had five other children from a previous marriage, and Matson asked if they had been baptized. The children had received Bibles from the church, had been active in Sunday school and the older boys had even participated in reading the Scripture during worship.
They were ready and anxious to willingly declare their faith. The family has been active in the church because of the example and urging of family.
Another couple in the church was building relationships beyond the walls of the church with both family and people they had met at a business establishment in Fulton. Five more responded to Christ's invitation and two of them have been active in the church for a few months. God's grace will continue to work in their lives in years to come. Since Matson is a Certified Lay Minister, Rev. Angie Olsen led the service and baptized them in the name of the Holy Trinity. God added the blessing.
Matson considers the new members, he sees that some first came to the church by chance, others by the urging and example of family and others by church members establishing connections with people beyond the church. And once they visited, they liked what they experienced.
“They keep coming back because of exceptional hospitality and worship that gives them something to take away,” Matson said. “I would say the kids love Sunday School and love coming to church. That helps a lot. The adults have experienced genuine caring as they moved from guests to regular attendees.”