Local church to hold old fashioned river baptism

On Sunday, the congregation of the Fulton United Methodist Church will be taking a step away from modern amenities and recreating an old-fashioned ritual. The congregation will step outside the walls of the church building and head down to the Little Osage River to perform a river baptism, at the request of the individual being baptized.

Pastor Charles Russell said that in his four years as pastor of the church this will be his first time performing a river baptism, however, it is not the first for the church. Russell has been told stories of river baptisms in Fulton from the 1960s in which 30 people were baptized at once, but only one person will be participating Sunday.

"This is something they've been doing for the (Fulton United) Methodist Church for many years," Russell said.

River baptisms date back to the time when Jesus walked the earth, Russell said.

He said that according to The Bible, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. He added that during the Protestant reformation in the 16th century, river baptisms were considered the only acceptable form of baptism.

"This sort of thing in the conservative Protestant church has a long, long history going back to the middle ages," he said.

Other churches across the country often take part in events recreating historic religious happenings. Russell said that he has taken part in foot washing ceremonies and he believes that taking part in similar events often brings an aspect of humility to present day worship.

"It's humbling and you're recreating something that scripture records Jesus himself participating in," he said.

Russell grew up in Fulton and attended the Fulton United Methodist Church before becoming a pastor of a church in Phoenix, Ariz.

He said many churches now use baptismal basins with chlorinated water and filtration systems, including his previous church in Phoenix. However, some churches still believe that the river is the way to go.

"It was like an indoor swimming pool," Russell said about the baptismal basin used in his Phoenix, Ariz., church. "(It was) about as far from the way people were baptized in the first century as you could possibly get."

"Some people, including the Fulton United Methodist Church, think the preferred method is recreating the Jordan River baptism, the old fashioned dipping in the river.

"These are rituals that have been a part of their simple little Methodist faith in that little country church forever, since the existence of the church, and I have never made any effort whatsoever to change these traditions and rituals that these people hold so dear. I've come to embrace them myself."

Having grown up one mile from the waterway, Russell has a deep connection with the Little Osage River. He said he has done many things in that river, but a baptism is not one of them.

"I've swam in it, I've fished in it. I've welded two car hoods together to make a boat to float in it," he said. "It's been a part of my life since I was 5-years-old."

"Being a part of something like this, sure it's a novelty, but I'm kind of anxious to be a part of it. This will be the first time that I've had a part in something like that and I'm kind of looking forward to it."

Although the church is up-to-date with modern amenities such as air conditioning, carpeting, and indoor plumbing, Russell said people have a tendency to lose sight of their faith amid the comforts. Because of that, the congregation holds at least two services outside each year. He said a change of scenery and a simplistic approach often changes people's outlook.

"There is something about being in nature, having a religious service outdoors, I think it puts people in a different mood, a different mindset. I think it adds humility and we begin to see things differently when we do simple things, simple rituals, away from neon lights and air conditioning and carpeting and all the creature comforts we've brought into our life in the 21st century," he said.