Young People’s Faith Shines in ‘Year of Baptisms’

During the 2025 Diocesan Convention at Trinity, Vero Beach, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb encouraged attendees with several stories of gospel impact and challenged them to what he called “a year of baptisms.” The diocese now has the privilege of seeing God at work in helping us fulfill this challenge. In the area of children and youth, three rectors – the Rev. Kay Mueller, member of the diocesan Standing Committee and rector at Church of Our Saviour, Okeechobee; the Very Rev. Matthew Perreault, dean of the Northwest Deanery and rector of St. Thomas, Eustis; and the Rev. Peter Tepper, rector at St. Peter the Fisherman, New Smyrna Beach – are among those who have seen God at work in their churches through the rite of baptism.

Mueller: ‘You’re Making a Vow Before God’

“We’ve done nine baptisms since the Convention, and several of these were children,” Mueller said. She points to three of particular significance that involved young people.

“We had a really sweet one back on Easter Sunday that involved a baby about 18 months old,” she said. “His grandparents have been longtime members of Church of Our Savior, and they live nearby, but their kids live in various parts of the country.”

The couple’s adult children are all regular attenders of Church of Our Saviour’s online services and also attend with their parents when in town. It meant a great deal to these adults, who had all been baptized in the church, to have the little boy, named after his grandfather, baptized there, and celebrating the baptism at Easter made it even more special.

In one service on May 4, Mueller baptized the four grandchildren of one couple who belong to her congregation. The couple’s daughter and her husband have two little boys, and their son and his wife have two little girls. When Mueller asked the questions in the Baptismal Covenant, the adults answered on behalf of the children, as the Book of Common Prayer prescribes.

But one little girl did not depend on the grownups. “The oldest was old enough to understand, and she answered some of the questions too,” Mueller said. “It was just precious.”

When Bishop Holcomb visited the church on Aug. 12, he baptized another granddaughter of a church member, this time an 8-year-old whom the grandmother is raising.

“I went to their home one Saturday and sat down with this little girl and her grandmother to talk about the commitment she was making,” Mueller said. “The little girl totally understood. The day the bishop was there and baptized her, when she came to the rail to receive – she just had that glow about her, that recognition in her eyes. Every time she comes to the rail, she knows what she’s there for, and she’s totally reverent.”

Encouraging baptisms is a regular part of her service as a priest, Mueller explained. “I make it part of my ministry to know the people in my parish and to talk with those who haven’t been baptized about what baptism means,” she said. “One of the advantages of a smaller church is that you get to know the people and know their stories.”

Though Mueller is excited about God’s work in stirring interest in baptism, she is careful to remind congregants of the sacred nature of the baptismal vows. “After all are presented, the Book of Common Prayer says the celebrant addresses the congregation and asks, ‘Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?’” she said. “And they’re supposed to answer, ‘We will.’”

Whenever she performs a baptism, “I always talk about this question, reminding people, ‘You’re making a vow before God,’” she said. She tells her congregation that they are now brothers and sisters in Christ of the one being baptized, encouraging them to consider what they mean when they make the vow.

“If you’re in that congregation and you’re witnessing that baptism and making that vow, you’re committing to be there for that person and to do all you know to help them,” she said. “If it’s a child, that may mean the parents are working, and the child needs a ride to church. It may mean that you need to teach Bible School because the child is going to grow up and need Christian education. There’s a whole spectrum of what you’re committing to.”

Perreault: ‘God Is Drawing People to the Waters of Baptism’

Perreault performed a youth baptism on Pentecost that demonstrated his commitment to the families in his church and to “the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this Church has received them” (Book of Common Prayer, “Ordination of a Priest,” p. 526). Prior to their wedding in the church, an engaged couple decided to pursue baptism for two of the children and one teen in their families, which they wanted performed on the same day.

The rector sat down with the parents, godparents and all the baptismal candidates, those from the couple’s families and one additional adult. “We spent a couple of hours going through the baptismal liturgy and talking about what the church teaches about baptism, reading from what scripture says about baptism and talking about what it meant,” he said.

However, the 17-year-old had a Baptist background, Perreault explained, and for her, “baptism was only baptism if it was full immersion,” he said. The two children and the adult could be baptized at the church, but with no way to perform a full-immersion baptism on site, what would that mean for the teen?

“We just did not have the facility to do it really well at the church,” Perreault said. “And if it was not going to be done at the church, it was effectively going to be a private baptism, no matter how you handled it.”

Perreault did some research and ultimately received permission from Bishop Holcomb “under the new rules that allowed the 1928 Book of Common Prayer to be used to form a private baptism,” Perrault. He said the use of the 1928 edition also gave him “the rubrics that said what to omit from the private service, and then, more importantly, what parts of the baptismal service to use in the church publicly for the reception of one who has been privately baptized.”

Early on June 8, Pentecost morning, Perreault, the teen and her family members went to a beach at Lake Joanna in Eustis.

“It was definitely a moving experience,” Perreault said. “Her grandfather assisted me, the three of us walking out into the lake in order to immerse her in the waters of baptism.” The family used a phone’s video chat feature to allow family members in Texas to watch the baptism as well. Thanks to a set of machine-washable vestments, Perreault was fully vested; he went home to change to fresh robes before conducting the church’s regular Sunday-morning service.

“At 10 o’clock, we did three additional baptisms with the reception of one who had been privately baptized [the teen],” Perreault said. “So she was able to make the various professions in front of the congregations that the others did, but she normally would not have, because it’s omitted in a private baptism. And then she was also able to receive her candle and so forth, so she felt completely included in the service. She had everything happen that was required, but she also got her wish, which was to do it in a full-immersion fashion.”

Perreault does not believe he is doing anything unique to encourage baptisms. “I am proclaiming the gospel and teaching on the importance of being a follower of Jesus and what that entails, and the importance of the fact that it starts in baptism because that’s what the scripture teaches us,” he said. “God is drawing people to the waters of baptism, and we just need to get out of the way and let them come.”

Tepper: ‘Do Not Be Ashamed to Confess the Faith of Christ Crucified’

Tepper has performed three baptisms of children and youth this year. The first two were a sister and brother, ages 10 and 3. Tepper said when he met with them and their parents, “The little girl was really impacted by the statement that long before she ever knew and loved God, God knew and loved her. She then said she wanted to be baptized because she wanted to follow Jesus and show her love for him.”

St. Peter the Fisherman is seeing a resurgence in faith among the youth of the church, thanks in part to its repeated running of the Alpha course, which encourages spiritual conversations. “During Lent this year, we started a Youth Alpha course for our church, and we were trying to revitalize our youth work,” Tepper said. “We had six kids sign up, and they started doing it. And among them were my daughter and our next-door neighbor, her best friend from school.” The next-door neighbor had not previously attended church.

“Youth Alpha, now called ‘What’s on Your Mind?’ is basically a great way to have conversations and explore questions of life, faith and purpose,” he explained. “And at the end of the course, three of our youth decided to get confirmed. And one of them, my daughter’s best friend, realized she wasn’t even baptized.

“On the Alpha Weekend Away, she heard the gospel,” Tepper said. “She heard that Jesus died on the cross and that he forgave her. And then she realized that God wanted a relationship with her, and so she said yes to Jesus.

“The Weekend Away is such an important part of Alpha; we offer prayer ministry if you want it,” he said. “And my wife, Michelle, just gently prayed for her and said, ‘You know, Lord, you love [this young woman]; would you just make yourself known by your Spirit? And she was just flooded with a deep sense of God’s peace and his presence, and she knew that Jesus loved her. … This whole year has been different for her.”

Tepper and his wife baptized the teen this summer. He recalls, “She had an amazingly crazy, beaming smile when she went into the waters here in New Smyrna.”

And the young woman’s commitment didn’t stop with her baptism. After finishing the Youth Alpha course at St. Peter the Fisherman, she remains active in the church and is now serving as one of the co-leaders for another session of the course at DeLand High School with the Teppers’ daughter and others.

Reflecting on the rite of baptism, Tepper said he likes the way the Church of England phrases it:

“Baptism marks the beginning of a journey with God which continues for the rest of our lives, the first step in response to God’s love. For all involved, particularly the candidates but also families, godparents and sponsors, it is a joyful moment when we rejoice in what God has done for us in Christ, making serious promises and declaring faith” (Liturgy of Baptism, The Church of England).

“My prayer for each and every candidate as they approach baptism is that it become an amazing milestone in their lifelong discipleship and that they ‘Do not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified,” Tepper said, again quoting from the Church of England’s Liturgy of Baptism. “Fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ against sin, the world and the devil, and remain faithful to Christ to the end of your life.’”