Recently I had cause to remember that night, Sunday 4th July 1954. That was sixty years ago. The place was Sydney and the locale, inside the Baptist Church in Eastwood. Outside it was cold, miserable and with showers of rain. That night I made a public profession of my new found faith in the waters of believer’s baptism. I can’t remember the cold water (no hot water in the baptistery in those days), but I do remember the occasion and those who were there to take part in that evening service. In those days, a baptismal service was probably more formal than the ones that are conducted in our church today. Usually those being baptized did not give a personal testimony, but were asked a couple of questions when the Pastor had led them down into the waters, like:

• By coming to these waters do you want to indicate to everyone here on this occasion, that you have asked Jesus to be your personal savior and Lord?
• Do you intent to follow him all the days of your life?

After the candidate had answered these questions then the Pastor would say;

“On your own profession of faith, and at your own request, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.

Then as the person being baptized came up out of the waters, the organist would play and the congregation would sing an appropriate Christian chorus. At Eastwood that chorus was from the Robert Lowry hymn “Down in the Valley with my Saviour I would Go”. The words were:

Follow! follow! I would follow Jesus!
Anywhere, everywhere, I would follow on!
Follow! follow! I would follow Jesus!
Everywhere He leads me I would follow on!

If more than one person was being baptised, the chorus would be sung again after each baptism. Other churches used different choruses, at Drummoyne where I was a Student Pastor, they sang: “Up from the grave he arose…..!

My later reflection was that we really didn’t have much preparation for the service. There were no baptismal classes when I grew up in that church. I think I learned more about the NT teaching on baptism afterwards rather than beforehand. But nevertheless, we all knew in that church, that when you were converted, if you were serious about it, you would not only tell others about the reality of your faith, but you would be baptised as a believer to publicly testify to your new found faith.

I always said, I was baptised on the 4th July the day America celebrates its freedom and independence. It is the day I celebrate having being set free as a follower of our Lord Jesus.