About 150 people gathered at Calshot Beach to witness some dramatic and memorable sea baptisms.
It was a time of great joy as St Andrew’s, Dibden Purlieu, joined with St Win’s, Totton, to worship together and celebrate lives transformed by Jesus.
At an earlier church service at St Andrew’s, Maddie, Logan, Lisa and Alex gave their baptismal responses and shared powerful and emotional testimonies of how they came to faith and have been welcomed by the church family. Here are their stories…
Logan, 17
“For as long as I can remember, my family and I have been followers of Christ. I’ve always happily gone to church, prayed and read the bible. It was only in the last few years, as I’ve got older, that I have become more aware of my sin, and the realisation that there is a lot more to Christ than I initially thought. Between about 14 and 17 years old, I’ve slowly started changing how I looked at life.
“I became more intentional about my faith and, as a result, bad habits started to fall away, like excessive phone usage and swearing. Alongside this, new habits formed as my commitment to the Lord deepened, such as putting time aside to read devotions so that I can be more grounded to the Lord throughout the week. It was during this time that I came to know Jesus as a friend, someone to talk to and look to for guidance.”
Maddy, 15
“I wanted to be baptised because over the last three years, I’ve been through the hardest moments of my life. There were times where I felt completely lost but even in those moments, when I was at my weakest, when I felt everyone gave up on me, Jesus was there. When all I could see was darkness, he showed me the light.
“He showed me that my life still had a purpose and he gave me strength when I had none. He loved me when I couldn’t love myself. Being baptised is a way of fully giving myself to God. I want to be baptised because I now know my story didn’t end in darkness, that Jesus saved me in ways words can’t explain.
“I have found comfort in this community, and I want to openly show that I accept Jesus into my heart.”
Lisa
Lisa came to faith after visiting the church office and asking for a Bible as she was studying an online course.
“I was not looking for God in any way. He found me, which was a bit of a shock, because that wasn’t on my radar.
“I started looking into things, because of what I saw going on around the world, and within my family and friends. I started to notice the inability of people to be able to listen and sit in the moment without responding in a toxic way which is never a solution. I started having questions, so I signed up to an online Bible course.
“The stories I read, some blew my mind and the more I read, the more comfortable I began to feel with myself, which I had never experienced.
“I’ve come on my own today but I don’t feel alone in this room, and I’ve never had that before.”
Alex
“I’m honoured and proud to be part of St. Andrew’s Church. Despite struggles I’ve had personally, they’ve all involved me and interacted with me, treating me as an equal. It’s felt special to be welcomed into a community, into such a friendly church family, especially when I wasn’t particularly well. In becoming a Christian, I look forward to joining the journey we all have together and want to thank those who have been part of my ongoing adventure. I didn’t come from a Christian life, but coming into a church has been amazing.”
The four braved the windy conditions to be baptised. Rector Peter Toller opened in prayer, thanking God for the wind, reminding everyone of the power of God’s Holy Spirit to transform people’s lives today. The gathering even attracted the attention of Solent Rescue who visited to find out what was happening.
Revd Peter said, “To see Christ at work in the lives of these precious people has been a joy and privilege for our church. Their stories are all so different, but it is the same God who has called them to be baptised. It was a joy to partner with St Win’s and share in a special moment together a Calshot Beach. As Caroline Cunningham who spoke that day on the Parable of the Sower said, Maddy, Logan, Alex and Lisa are an example of the harvest and are now becoming sowers themselves. They’re the fruit of people sowing the seed in their lives and they’re now sowing that message into other people’s lives.”
Later many stayed on to enjoy a time of fellowship with cakes and cookies provided by the church.
