Jehova's Witnesses baptize 61 at BJCC
Sunday, June 24, 2007 GREG GARRISON News staff writer
Zachary Franklin, 9, came up for air, his T-shirt and shorts soaked. He climbed out of the swimming pool with a big grin on his face.
"I feel happier," he said.
A few minutes later, 81-year- old Alfred Tancredi took a dunk in the baptismal pool.
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As volunteers mopped up water that splashed off a carpet runway, a steady flow of converts stepped up and climbed into the pool to be dunked.
Jehovah's Witnesses holding a district convention at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex baptized 61 converts in a pool on the arena floor Saturday afternoon. Young and old, they too are now Jehovah's Witnesses, part of a fast-growing denomination known for its door-to-door evangelism.
"I've tried them all, Baptist, Methodist, Holiness," said Tancredi, of Warrior. "This is the only one that spends time with you, works with you, explains the truth. This is where I've got my faith now."
More than 7,000 Jehovah's Witnesses from Alabama and Mississippi gathered at the BJCC beginning Friday, and they will wrap up their three-day regional meeting this afternoon. They listened to Bible lessons on the theme "Follow the Christ!"
They reject belief in the Catholic and Protestant doctrine of the Trinity, the idea that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all aspects of the one, true God. Witnesses emphasize using the name Jehovah to give glory to God the Creator. They believe Jesus was the son of God, but not God himself.
"We see Jesus as Jehovah's son," said Circuit Overseer Thomas J. Rucker, a featured speaker. "It's different from the trinitarian view that Jesus and God are the same."
The convention stressed that Jehovah's Witnesses do believe in Jesus, and that he is a model for believers to follow. "We're followers of Christ; that's the main thing," said newly baptized Carolyn Hood of Bessemer.
Jason Hall and his daughter, Alex Hall, 10, of Columbus, Miss., got baptized together. "I'm just so happy," Alex said, dripping wet with a towel around her as her mother, Crystal, snapped pictures. "Mama, I'm gonna go get dressed. I'm cold."
A few minutes later she returned wearing a red dress. "I'm so proud of you," her mother said. "This is the most important day of their lives."
There are more than 150 worship centers called Kingdom Halls in Alabama, with combined membership of more than 15,000. About 1.6 million people attend Jehovah's Witness regional conventions throughout the country from May through September.
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