My Journey to Baptism and Confirmation

Sunday August 21st is one of the biggest days of my life.   I will be baptized.  Finally, I will be letting Jesus in my heart out of joy rather than fear.  I will explain more about that later in my post.  I will also be confirmed as a member of the Community of Christ Church!  Here is my journey.

My whole family grew up going to the Methodist Church.   We really weren't a church going family, but when we did go, we went to the Methodist Church in Sidney.  I have nothing but great things to say about the church.  I was involved in a lot of activities.  My congregation was great.  I made a lot of good friends. 

In college, I started to lose my way a little bit.  I never lost my faith in Jesus Christ, but I started questioning things about my faith.  There are some things I just didn't understand about my church.  Onr thing was definately baptism.  I was baptised when I was a baby.  I was thinking to myself how does a baby know what is going on in baptism.  I was thinking that this should be a moment you remember.  You should know what you are doing when you are being baptized.   This caused me to try to explore other churches but nothing attached to me, so I started going back to the Methodist Church.

Then my dad died in 1993, and I lost a lot of faith in a lot of things for a while.  I was looking for answers.  I then met a man while playing basketball at college.  He happened to be youth pastor at church in Maryville.   He invited me to a bible study which I went to.  He mentioned how if you don't join their church you would go to hell.  He said instruments in church were forbidden. You must worship just like Jesus.  We didn't celebrate Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas.  And they believed in full emersion baptism which is what I believe in.     He was very convincing and with my mind still kind of messed up about my dad's passing, I soaked it all in and got baptized out of fear that I was going to hell, not out of the joy of accepting Jesus Christ as my savior. 

After I graduated from college I went home for a little bit.  And then I just had this anger come over me how I was brainwashed by this church.   So of course I was confused again looking for answers.  After I moved to Kansas City, I started going to the Methodist Church again.  I enjoyed the services and learned a lot, but I still felt the same way about the Methodist Church.  I think it is a great church, but I still had a difference of opinion on some of their beliefs.

In 2006, things started to turn around for me.  I met the love of my life Misty Corn.  Misty told me about the Church she went to.  She explained to me how her church was a break from Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints.  I grew up in a Methodist Church.  There was the Old Testament and New Testament.  I of course associate Latter Day Saints with Joseph Smith, which growing up, I really didn't hear good things about him.   Then we are adding the Book of Mormon which I grew up thinking this book was not good.  Then to find out there was another book called the Doctrine of Covenants written by people who had messages from God.   Hmmm...  I wasn't sure about this but I kept my heart open to the idea.

I ended up going to a couple of services with Misty before we got married.   I could tell from the moment I walked in the sense of community of this church.   I could tell this church wanted to do good things.  I felt welcomed there.  I was still very skeptical of a lot of the beliefs since it was a long way from what I grew up on, but I was definately willing to keep on learning about the church.  Misty can tell you I had a lot of questions for her about the church.

In June of 2009, Misty and I moved to Odessa.    Misty and I made a committment that we were going to go to church more often.   I wanted to learn more.  I read about all the Sacraments of the church and I was fascinated by them.   After I started studying a little more about what this church believed in, I got excited.

 They didn't worship Joseph Smith like I thought for a little while.  They worship Jesus Christ.  This is a Christian based chruch that believes in Jesus Christ.     This church has the fundamental beliefs that I was looking for.   This church believes in Community and helping the needy.   So now my worry about the church's mission is solved.

So now how about the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine of Covenants.  I found this on the community of Christ website and it really spoke to me. 

With other Christians, we affirm the Bible as the foundational scripture for the church. In addition, the Community of Christ uses the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants as scripture. We do not use these sacred writings to replace the witness of the Bible or improve upon it, but because they confirm its message that Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God (Preface of the Book of Mormon; Doctrine and Covenants 76: 3g). We have heard Christ speak in all three books of scripture, and bear witness that he is “alive forever and ever” (Revelation 1:18).

The Book of Mormon and Doctrine of Covenants are another reference to the word of Jesus Christ.  I like the bible is the foundational scripture.  I also think the Doctrine of Covenants is so enlightening.  I like that this church is evolving every day.

It didn't take me long to realize that this was going to be my church home. I think one of the turning points for me has been watching the transformation of the Vic and Vanessa Dutel.  When I saw Vic get baptized, that is when it clicked for me.  That was a real powerful moment for me.     I knew about 3 months after I started going to this church regularly I wanted to be baptized in this church and confirmed.    However, I didn't want to rush it, I wanted to make sure.  Misty was really good about keeping me grounded and making sure that this was something I wanted to do. 

So why do I want to get baptized.  I already was baptized once.  Like I said before, when I got baptized when I was in college, it was out of fear and not joy.  I feel I was brainwashed by that church.  I want to feel that joy of baptism.  I want to feel the joy of Jesus Christ.  I wants those burdens and sins washed away and put God in control.  I am extremely excited!   And then after studying and a lot of observations during services, I knew I wanted to be confirmed and become a member of the Community of Christ Church.  I can't wait for Sunday! 

I wanted to end this by acknowleding a few people that were a big influence in me making this decision.

Misty, I love you so much!  Thank you for keeping me grounded.  Thank you so much for your support during this.  Thank you for putting up with all my questions. :)  Thank you for marrying me!  I probably would still be searching for meaning if I wouldn't have met you.  God knew what he was doing when he put us together.  Misty helped me realize that the Community of Christ just isn't about Odessa. It is worldwide.  She wanted to make sure I was falling in love with the Community of Christ Church, not just Odessa.    Misty and I are excited about visiting other Community of Christ Churches in our region.

Watson Family-  Thank you for welcoming me into this community.  Thank you for your friendship.  Thank you for talking to me.  Bruce, you had a huge impact on me when you presided over Misty's and my wedding.  Your love and emotion for Jesus Christ is contageous   You also have two great kids that I feel will be leaders in this church.   We are so lucky to have you as a Pastor.  Bruce, I feel blessed that you will be involved in my confirmation. 

Vic and Vanessa Dutel-  I might not say it much but you two had a huge impact in my reasoning for joining the church.  Watching you two grow in faith inspires me and I am hoping I can follow in your footsteps.

Jeff and Jenny Kramer, Pat Mead, John Mead-  Thank you for talking with me.  You all made a concerted effort to get to know me and I really appreciated it.  I don't know if some of our talking was appropriate for church but it was fun.  Jeff, I really enjoyed our brief chat fishing at Family Camp. I hope there will be a lot more conversations.   I am super excited that you will be doing the Baptisimal Charge. 

Corn Family-  Thank you Grandma Sadler for grilling me on Monday night.  I needed those questions.  You and Les are truly amazing people.   I can't think of anyone more that I would want to do my confirmation than you.  Momma Corn, I feel blessed that you will be baptizing me.  You have been so helpful with questions I have had.  I feel blessed to have you as a mother in law.  Hopefully, I don't break the glass.  :) 
Dad Corn, Thank you for being there and being your onery self.  :)

I am ready for the journey!

Want to know what Misty has to say about My Journey?  CLICK HERE to read her thoughts on the subject.