Baptistries

http://www.christianitytoday.com/yc/2007/005/8.62.html

[Christianity Today] 24 Oct 2007--Nancy became a Christian last year and was eager to be baptized. But as an Army nurse deployed to a field hospital in Baghdad, her opportunities for full-immersion baptism were extremely limited.

She would have to wait until several of her fellow soldiers were also ready for the rite, then they could dig a shallow hole in the sand in their compound, line it with plastic, and fill it with water. But Nancy didn't want to wait.

"I was ready," she said excitedly. "I decided I had waited long enough. Seeing some of the things I do in my work made me realize that I needed to get my life in order, so after I made the decision to become a Christian, I was going to find a place to be baptized."

The only available water nearby was in a pool at one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces. "I asked the chaplain if there would be anything sacrilegious about using that pool, and he said there wasn't, so that's where I was baptized."

An article on baptistries in an Anglican blog?! In listing dipping first, the rubrics of The Book of Common Prayer of 1662 make immersion the preferred method for baptizing adults and those who can answer for themselves. In a century in which we are likely to see more adult baptisms in the Anglican Church, Anglican congregations may want to invest in a portable baptistry for those occasions.