Events Calendar
In This Section
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Tragedy to hope: Family creates foundation for bereavement therapy
Here are some tips for those grieving for a loved one during holidays
'The Lacuna' is well worth 10-year wait
Feast your eyes on essays from Times food writer
'Twilight' legends alter community
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Browns' roster nearly devoid of consistent players
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns vs. Lions live …
Akron Zips:
Akron trounces Howard to reach .500
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Robiskie, Harrison inactive
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Disabled man, 27, is among 16 believers baptized at Lake Anna
By Betty Lin-Fisher
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Aug 25, 2008
Once a year for the past five years, members of the Greater Bethel Baptist Church in Akron go ''back to the basics'' for a baptismal ceremony.
They baptize new believers dressed in white robes in the waters of Lake Anna in Barberton.
''From a biblical perspective, this takes us back to the biblical days when John the Baptist did it in the Jordan River,'' Melford J. Elliott, senior pastor of Greater Bethel Baptist, said as he tucked his portable microphone into a wet suit pocket and zipped up his white robe in preparation for the baptisms Sunday afternoon.
The baptisms in Barber ton are a kickoff for a three-day ''jubilee'' that will start Friday back at the church on South Arlington Street.
Among the 16 people being baptized in the lake was Andre ''Dre'' Travis, a 27-year-old quadriplegic who joined the church a few years ago. Travis has cerebral palsy and has been in a wheelchair since birth.
''Dre touched my heart some years ago,'' Elliott said. ''He's disadvantaged in one sense, but advantaged in so many other senses. He really desires to be active in ministry.''
Travis said God was calling him to be baptized in the lake.
''I went through a lot in my life,'' Travis said, at times his words being clarified by his weekend caretaker, Robin Brock. ''I think God is calling me to do this. Most of all, I'm doing it for my family and all the young people. I just love God.''
As Deacon William Dancy cradled Travis in his arms and walked him out to Elliott and minister Ron Winslow in the water, church members and other bystanders on the shore shouted praise amidst music.
''If he can praise God in his condition, can anybody?'' Elliott asked the crowd after baptizing Travis.
As Dancy carried Travis back to his wheelchair, Cynthia Carroll of Akron wiped away tears on the shore.
Carroll said seeing Travis put her aches and pains in her knees and hips in perspective.
''By him being able to express his gratitude in his wheelchair . . . to see him, it just touched me,'' she said.
Carroll, a church member, said a lot of people in the church have taken to Travis.
''He sits in the front of the church, right next to the deacon,'' she said.
Elliott said Travis comes to church when he's able to get transportation and the church is hoping to find ways to get him there more often.
For Nicole Sommerville, 32, of Akron, the baptism was a family affair. She and her two children and mother were getting baptized in Lake Anna.
''I'm trying to get a relationship with my father, Lord Jesus,'' she said.
Sommerville said she wanted to be baptized in the lake instead of the baptismal pool at the church to be ''in front of God's light.''
Gladys Henderson, 70, of Akron, heard on the radio about the baptisms in Lake Anna and said she wanted to have the same experience she did when she was 13 in Ravenna, watching a river baptism.
''They're not done very often. I think it's blessed,'' said Henderson, who attends Peoples Baptist Church in Akron. ''I had to come. I had to see this. I've been real sick. I want to experience one more time what I felt as a child.''
After the baptism of Travis and several others, Henderson said the service was much more advanced than the one she attended when she was young because there was a choir singing and music.
''He [Pastor Elliott] felt the spirit when he baptized that young man,'' she said.
And Travis' take on the baptism?
''It was invigorating,'' he said.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at
330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com.
Once a year for the past five years, members of the Greater Bethel Baptist Church in Akron go ''back to the basics'' for a baptismal ceremony.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
