BTW, how do you get to be a preacher without being baptized? BTW BTW, Sarah P. was baptized a Catholic, then the parents joined a Protestant church and got re-baptized. What's with that? JP, maybe you can count her extra one as the one you never had.
Palin's case isn't that uncommon. Many evangelical churches would require someone baptized as a Catholic to be rebaptized. Particularly holiness churches or Baptist communities (Baptists would push for anyone not baptized as an adult to be immersed. They don't recognize infant baptisms as legitimate since the infant, they argue, could not willfully and personally accept Jesus as Messiah).
For my case: its a funny story.
My dad was raised Roman Catholic (though he was Jewish; his dad "converted" but they were nominal catholics. I never saw my grandfather go to mass). Shortly after marrying my mom (a protestant), he "converted" to protestantism. He was very insistant, though, against having any kids baptized.
About 5 or so years before I was born, they both left to join a Baptist community. They were baptized.
When my sisters got older (around 13), they were too.
I was a bit of a hellion. Plus, the religion in my childhood home had an icky sort of child abuse thang to it (I've posted about some of it before).
Summer after my last year of high school (about 6 months after my mom's diagnosis with a fatal cancer) I had my own "conversion experience" at a youth retreat thing. It was a baptist group. I prayed Jesus into my heart and all that (no great mystery here as to what was happening psychologically. Late adolescence, dying - and formerly abusive - mother, soon to leave home, blahblahblah. Really, it was like shooting fish in a barrel).
So I was "saved."
I was going to get baptized at a service about 3 weeks later at my home church, but mom got sicker and we had to postpone (we thought she'd recover; we wanted her to be there).
Long story short(er), I left for college without the baptism. When I got to college-town, I immediately went to "place my membership" with a local congregation. They asked me if I had been "saved," and I said "you bet" and told them all about what Jesus had done to/for/in me. I had a letter from my former pastor saying something to the effect of "he's a good egg; he loves the Lord." I volunteered for the inner city ministry and they put me to work. They simply didn't ask any more questions. Quite the contrary, they were thrilled to sponsor me for seminary by my senior year.
My "witness" (Rebelious hellion turned sunday school teacher and inner city evangelist because of God's Spirit falling on him while he coped with his dying/dead mother) seemed to cover any doubts.
I was at seminary for two years and into my field-work with a big congregation as a ministry intern before it ever came up again. The professors and the dean all decided "well, you prayed for Jesus, and that's what counts" and that having a public baptism would be both silly and "demoralizing." They were pretty liberal. There was brief talk of a "private baptism" with just a few from the clergy-staff, but that never happened. Next thing you know, it was ordination time. Ordination boards are not often liberal. But, oddly (and simply), again, no one asked (I guess they just assumed).
Never been baptized. Seminary. Ordination. 5 years ministry (with weddings and funerals and all that).
Back to the thread.
