Baptism by James White

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 11, 1878

Baptism.

By James White

SABBATH afternoon, June 29, we had the pleasure of burying four precious souls by baptism in the Kalamazoo river, at Battle Creek, Mich. A large audience gathered at the river-side, where we have probably, during the last thirty years, baptized more than one thousand persons. Not that the Battle Creek church numbers that, but as our General Conference in times past has almost always been held here, and as at such annual meetings there are more or less to be baptized, and as the brethren have usually given us the pleasure of being administrator, we think we have not stated the number too high.

Solemn indeed was the occasion, as we could look back to the period of our strength in middle age, when we have baptized so many in this river. It has sometimes been our privilege to unite with fellow-laborers when the number was very large. Of these we will mention Elder Andrews, now in the Old World, Elder Loughborough in California, and our beloved brother, Elder Butler. We rejoiced in God; and although time and disease had made their mark upon us, yet we had strength to go into the water once more and to baptize these four with the greatest ease. God grant that these may follow the Lord faithfully until the Master shall appear and the reward be given. J. W.