03 May 2011 Reykjavik, Iceland [Eric Gudmundsson, tedNEWS] Baptisms are not really about numbers and they should be used only carefully as a measurement of church growth. We all know that baptism as such is only one of many contributing factors to a thriving, let alone a blooming church. Recently, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Iceland could celebrate nine baptisms within two weeks. This may not sound so spectacular in regions where hundreds are baptised even in one day but here in Iceland, it certainly does.
Therefore, I would like to tell the story of three siblings within this group. Sigrun Ella, Jon Thor and Anna Mary live in a village in Western Iceland. In their town, the three kids, along with their parents are the only Seventh-day Adventists. Even though the main road system in Iceland has now been tarmac for many years, that does not mean that you can get wherever you like, especially during the winter months. Therefore this family has not the possibility to attend church with fellow Adventists on a regular basis. Even in good conditions, a visit to the church would be an about five hours’ roundtrip amounting to a distance of 360 kms (220 miles). This means that the youngsters have always attended school and most other activities outside of the community of the Adventist church.
Through the years the family has though attended camp meetings and other Adventist activities, especially in the summertime and last year the youngsters joined the Icelandic pathfinders group at the “Faithbook” camporee in Finland. Recently we have established a regular online streaming of our services in the Reykjavík church. This gives our family in Western Iceland along with many others who live in remote areas, or others who are unable to attend church due to other reasons, the possibility to celebrate the Sabbath with their fellow believers in Reykjavik.
Preparation of the baptismal ceremony is quite a challenge when you don‘t have the opportunity to meet on a regular basis. Only three of the nine who were baptised were in fact able to have their weekly Bible study with their pastor. For the others, special arrangements had to be made. We had fewer sessions, but they were longer each time. This arrangement gave us the possibility to get to know each other well on a personal basis. In my opinion, baptismal classes are very much about establishing a life-long mutual relationship of trust and fellowship in Jesus, rather than transmitting knowledge or information.
“It is only 20 months since I have started my work as a pastor. Before, I have been a teacher on various age-levels”, says Manfred Lemke pastor who did the Bible studies with this group, and continued: “For me, the baptismal preparation has been the highlight of my work. The skills and experience acquired during my former occupation have now their true focal point, which is teaching about Jesus. Whereas many of the daily tasks of pastoral work have been new and challenging, the sessions with these lovely young people have always been a source of joy for me.”
Pastor Lemke continued to explain his feeling while he was standing in the baptistery with these young people: `’When I finally stood in the baptistery, awaiting the first youngster to join me, I felt how little I was. Would I find the right words to say? Would we do right? Would all go well? There are so many things that can go wrong, so many things to worry about. But, at that moment, there was no feeling of worry. The strength we felt was supernatural, the words spoken were given by someone else”, concluded Pastor Lemke.
It is this moment that gives us hope. There is a future, a good future with good young people. In a such moment we feel both strong and weak, strong because we know we are not alone in this, and weak because we feel how utterly dependent we are upon the grace and guidance of our almighty God.
What does it mean for the Church in Iceland to have nine young people baptised in the spring days of 2011? Well, in a church where growth is an issue, this gives us hope. This is particularly important for the elderly who have seen another time where the church grew rapidly and they are yearning for a revival. But the real meaning or fruits of these baptisms will only unfold in the years to come.
Will they find their way in the church? Will the church find a way to integrate them and give them the feeling of belonging and support? Will they be strong enough to withstand the pressure of their peers to live a ‘normal’ life? All this is a question of relationships. My prayer for these young and beautiful persons is that they may always work on their relationships in order to keep them good and let them grow. Above all their relationship with God, but also their relationship with their travelling companions through life. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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