A church in Walsall has been beating the heat, with baptism by bucket.
St Matthew’s welcomed Carl Perry into the family of God with three bucket loads of water – marked ‘Father,’ ‘Son,’ and ‘Holy Spirit’.
The original plan had been for Carl to be baptised in a pool, however, the church wanted to be “water conscious” amid national hosepipe shortages.
Vicar Revd Jim Trood told the Church Times that he had first seen the bucket method used whilst in Bible college. He has also used it to baptise someone wearing an electronic ankle tag, who gave their life to Christ whilst on probation.
“Filling a large immersion tank simply didn’t feel responsible regarding our water consumption” Revd Trood said. “By switching to three buckets, we were able to preserve the deep spiritual significance and joy of the baptism while being sensible stewards of our resources.”
He added that the congregation were “absolutely buzzing” to welcome Carl into their church family.
Carl chose to wear his Walsall FC team shirt for the special event, which features a pattern inspired by St Matthew’s Church roof.
