by Brad Roth, Interim Pastor at Greensburg Mennonite Church

“I don’t think many kids are coming to this,” a youth told me as we gathered for Greensburg Mennonite Church’s first baptismal class in years.

It was Sunday afternoon in the heart of winter in western Kansas. I had been laying the groundwork for weeks: planning, shoulder-tapping, and announcing in the congregation where I serve as a part-time interim pastor. Around seventy five people typically gather for worship—a quarter of them children and youth—so there were candidates for the class. But with me making the two-hour drive to minister in Greensburg only a couple of times a month, would the youth respond?

As I laid out copies of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective 1995 and special booklets I had created containing Bible verses, reflection questions, the Nicene Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, youth trickled in. Thirteen of them joined us that first afternoon. Two more showed up the following week after coming to church with their family for the first time in years. A granddaughter of key church members, living in a community two hours away, reached out to ask if she could be baptized too.

By the end of the class, ten of the youth had decided to take the plunge and commit their life to Jesus through the waters of baptism.

And plunge they did! Nine of the youth wanted to be immersed. A local Baptist church graciously opened their sanctuary and baptistry to us. We gathered with family and friends early Sunday before the Baptists were up, received our youth’s professions of faith, and dunked them. Later that morning during our regular worship service, we baptized another young woman by pouring. We anointed all of the youth with oil on their foreheads in the ancient biblical sign of sealing with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). Then we celebrated at the Lord’s table, nourishing them with the food of the baptized as they continued their walk with Jesus. Later, as we gathered for a fellowship meal, we shared cookies in the form of water droplets.

Through this baptismal journey, I reflected on God’s enduring kingdom. In 2007, the community of Greensburg was devastated by a massive tornado. All of the church buildings were destroyed, along with most of the homes. Half of the town’s residents moved away and never came back.