First baptisms at International Praise Centre
Baptism is described as being both a spiritual and social event, and on Sunday November 12, 2017, members of International Praise Centre (IPC) had occasion to experience the full extent of the ceremony
It marked our first independent baptism since we moved from Harmony House in Dagenham to the former Earl of Wakefield public house in East Ham. (A previous baptism had been done jointly with Alperton Baptist Church, during our toddling years).
Most importantly, it also marked the day our baptism candidates, a Hindu convert from Mauritius and a teenager from Gambia, became full fledged bona fide members of not just IPC, but the universal body of Christ.
Following a series of logistical hitches, the ceremony took off amidst friends and family and with fanfare and pageantry. The candidates and the officiating minister, the Revd Claude Halm, were all dressed in white from head to toe; there was music, laughter and joyous beaming faces all around.
We believe there were a lot of people who caught a glimpse of heaven that day. It has been said that “God sometimes takes us through troubled waters not to drown us but to cleanse us.” - unknown. The events leading to the ceremony felt very much like a physical depiction of the “troubled waters”, and overcoming them, like the newness of life the candidates and the church as a whole were moving into.
Baptist Times, 01/12/2017