‘It Is Well’: Dying Man’s Request for Baptism Extends to Family

As John Birt Lashley Sr., 62, faced his final days on earth, he didn’t wish for a trip to Europe, an encounter with a celebrity or a financial windfall for his family. His aspirations were much simpler – and much less selfish. The one thing he truly wanted was to see all his family members again one day in heaven. With only limited verbal communication at his disposal, he did everything he could to make that happen.

Stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for nearly four years and now in the final weeks of his life, the Okeechobee, Florida, native expressed to his loved ones his wish to be baptized into God’s kingdom – and for them to do the same. Those desires resulted in baptism for Lashley and five family members as well as a revitalization of the Rev. Kay Mueller’s ministry as rector of Church of Our Saviour, Okeechobee.

Request for Baptism

One of Lashley’s nieces began attending Church of Our Saviour in spring 2025, and his sister Lisa Lashley, who had moved from the area but returned, first came to the church around Thanksgiving that same year. But prior to the day Mueller baptized him, she and John had never spoken.

Although the family had placed him on the church’s prayer list, the rector – also a member of the Standing Committee for the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida and the diocese’s Commission on Ministry in addition to serving as an instructor for the Institute for Christian Studies – said she wasn’t aware of the extent of his illness until Lisa texted her one Saturday to say she wouldn’t be at church the next day. Instead, she would be caring for her brother, who had ALS, and watching the service online with him.

Seeing that term triggered something deep inside her, the priest said. “I had lost a dear friend and colleague to ALS several years ago, and I had stayed in touch with his widow,” she said. “I was familiar with ALS in that sense.”

Still, she didn’t think much more about the interaction until she listened to her phone messages Sunday evening, at the end of a busy day of ministry. “I had performed an infant baptism during the morning worship service, and I had a message from Lisa saying, ‘My brother John would like to be baptized,’” she said. “It really caught me by surprise.” When she and Lisa spoke, they set a time for Mueller to visit and baptize John at his home on Wednesday, March 25.

Concern for Family

The Ven. Julie Altenbach, who was to be in Okeechobee for a separate function at the church on the day set for her initial visit with John, “graciously” agreed to come early and join her for the visit and baptism, Mueller said.

“I was honored when Rev. Kay invited me to accompany her to visit with him,” Altenbach said. “We immediately felt a tangible sense of love and peace within the home. She spent some time speaking with John about baptism and what it means for those who receive this holy sacrament. John had the sweetest expression of gratitude and love for all he was hearing. The family gathered around as Rev. Kay poured water over him and baptized him in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It was one of the most profoundly holy moments I have been blessed to witness.”

“He wanted all of us to be together eternally,” Lisa said. “That’s all he ever wanted. He couldn’t go to church with me, so I started watching Mass with him on his computer. Afterward, he wanted me to call Rev. Kay and ask her to baptize him. So she and Archdeacon Julie came to the house, and after his baptism, he told us his prayer was that the rest of the family would all be baptized too. No one hesitated.”

‘Instant’ Connection

During their initial time together, Mueller made what she termed an “instant” connection with John. She was amazed at his transparency as he shared his life with her: his personal background, regrets and concerns.

“He had been brought up in church as a child and had engaged in baptism as a formality in his teen years, but then he went off the path,” she said. “He regretted the error of those ways, and he was concerned about it.

“That day, we talked about how he had repented and how God removes our sins as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered anymore, and his grace is sufficient,” Mueller continued. “As I told him, we’re quick to give grace to others, but we must also give grace to ourselves. His expressed desire was to profess and honor the sacrament of baptism he had witnessed in our March 22 worship broadcast.”

Along with John’s faith commitment, what stood out to her was his love for family. “He was attentive, participatory and emotional as we celebrated his baptism,” she said in the homily she delivered at his funeral. “He was quick to express his fatherly desire to see his children baptized before he went on to be with the Lord. Even amid daily decline due to the rapid progression of symptoms and the loss of independent functions, his primary and most heartfelt concerns were for his family and their spiritual well-being.”

Celebration and Closure

The Saturday after John’s baptism, Mueller returned to the home to visit John and give baptismal instruction to those family members who had not received this sacrament. The next day, accompanied by Kevin Kinnaird, the church’s director of worship and music, she baptized his three children, the fiance of one of his children, and a grandchild. “It was both a moment of celebration and closure for him,” she said.

During the weeks prior to John’s April 14 death, she visited him almost every day, sharing times of silence, readings from the book Every Moment Holy and various scriptures with resulting discussions, she said. During this time, she witnessed a great deal of spiritual growth in him and his family members.

One of their discussions focused on John 14, Mueller said in her funeral homily. “We talked about the dwelling place Jesus went to prepare especially for John, and that Jesus would come again and receive John, because John truly knew ‘the way, the truth, and the life.’ Our last discussion was on John 20:19-31 when Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection and said, ‘Peace be with you,’ and ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’”

‘It Is Well’

By the end of the journey, the rector said she felt like part of the family herself, and the impact the experience made on her life and ministry has been immeasurable.

“This was a journey I never expected to take,” Mueller said. “My ministry was reenergized and revitalized, and it just shows how God works. Who would ever have thought I would have that opportunity because someone watched our broadcast and decided they wanted to be baptized?”

“As a priest, there are times you go through the celebrations and the joys with people – the marriages and births, the promotions and the retirements,” she explained. “You’re there for so many celebratory moments, but then you are also invited into the innermost circle of people’s deepest challenges or deepest fears or deepest pain. And to be invited into that with somebody I’d never laid eyes on and to have that 21 days with him just impacted my life and my ministry in a powerful way.”

On her final visit with John, his granddaughter Jessie sang a contemporary version of “It Is Well,” which she later presented at his funeral. “John thoughtfully listened and leaned his head back,” Mueller said. “I finished Last Rites, and then he lifted his head and told us, ‘It is well.’” What a testimony, and what a gift to his beloved wife, Amy, and all the family he loved so dearly!”