It’s always cause for rejoicing in heaven when an individual responds with genuine faith to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This rejoicing, then, is surely palpable in response to the work God is doing in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, where more and more churches are seeing God move to bring people to belief in Christ.
Gospel Emphasis Brings Change
The Rev. Chris Rodriguez, rector of Trinity, Vero Beach, baptized a group of four young people this fall, three of whom – Maxwell, 15, Evan, 18, and Elizabeth, 20 – are siblings who were never baptized and had visited many churches with their family without finding the right fit. The fourth, Tariano, 20, had attended church regularly as a child but stopped when his family quit attending. As a teen, he attended another church with his grandmother off and on. Like the others, when a friend invited him to Trinity, he discovered something he had never before experienced. He was “captivated by the beauty of the service, the traditional worship and the gospel-based sermons,” Rodriguez said.
The three siblings also had a powerful response to the worship experience at Trinity. “Things like incense and chanting were not part of worship services they had previously experienced as they ‘shopped around’ town for a church,” Rodriguez said of them. “Initially, while they were still a little scared of it, the overpowering feeling was one of awe and feeling indescribably drawn to what they were experiencing at Trinity. I explained to them that this is what we should be feeling when we experience the living God; we are both drawn to it and terrified by it.”
Tariano receives his baptismal candle. | Photo courtesy Trinity, Vero Beach
All four young adults attended baptism classes at Trinity, and Rodriguez baptized them in October. He said the three siblings “chose to fast for days before their baptism to stay focused on prayer and to concentrate on what they were doing as they prepared to make this commitment to Jesus.”
Following the baptisms, Maxwell said he has believed in Christ “for as long as I can remember,” but it wasn’t until his family found a church home at Trinity that the Holy Spirit moved within him and brought him closer to Christ.
“Attending Trinity was a huge step for my faith and the process of getting baptized,” he said. “Ultimately, my heart has been turned toward God more than it has ever been, both in prayer and in action.”
“What Jesus has done for me to bring me to my true faith is giving a wretched sinner like me mercy,” Evan said. “Though I do not deserve it, Christ has provided me strength in body and spirit to face the many challenges and adversities that have come my way. … These unwavering traits of Christ’s, especially his abundant outpouring of good toward me, are what brought me to committing to baptism.”
Elizabeth said at first, services at Trinity scared her, and she found herself worrying that she was “just partaking in needless ritual.” However, during subsequent conversations with the Rev. Joshua Gritter, assistant to Rodriguez, she discovered why baptism is important and what it truly means to be a Christian.
“Father Gritter’s joy for us demonstrated how Christ works in him and was like a reflection of how deeply the Lord loves us all,” Elizabeth said. “Seeing his excitement reminded me of what the Lord has provided in my life, and that I get to have a unique relationship with a loving and righteous God.”
Tariano’s gospel-based experience at Trinity helped him return to the faith he had first experienced in childhood. “In my senior year of high school, I went through a lot,” he said. “Sometimes I felt alone. I began to pray every night, and that loneliness started to fade … During my freshman year of college, I met my girlfriend. She and her family helped me realize all the work that God was doing in my life, and my love for him grew exponentially. Through all my hardships, I know I can turn to God. He is everything I will ever need.”
“Regardless of people’s ages or backgrounds, I just like to see Jesus change lives, whether they were previously churched or unchurched,” Rodriguez explained. “It is a joy when babies are baptized, when young adults come to faith or when older people are drawn in to a life of Christ in the traditional catholic faith.”
Alpha Course Spurs Baptisms
But Trinity isn’t the only church in the diocese where people are coming to know Christ. St. Andrew’s, Fort Pierce, also recently experienced a move of the Spirit. At the close of an evening session of the Alpha course at St. Andrew’s, the Rev. Canon Ellis Brust joyfully performed three baptisms.
The Rev. Canon Ellis Brust and Sally at her spontaneous baptism | Photo Courtesy St. Andrew’s, Fort Pierce
“We were running our fourth Alpha series and, like clockwork, the first three really reached our members,” Brust said. “But somewhere in the fourth, we started to reach people not connected to the church, people who were just invited by a member and who really had not much faith at all. Near the end of one of the sessions, Don, a college student who was home for the week, raised his hand and said, ‘Canon Ellis, I want to be baptized on Sunday morning.’
“I said, ‘Well, let’s get you baptized right now,'” Brust continued. “I asked if anyone would be comfortable in joining us, and a young woman named Sally raised her hand.”
Brust baptized Don and then Sally, who had tears running down her face as she received her baptism. During Sally’s baptism, a mother in the congregation brought her 2-year-old son, Cade, who had asked his mother if he could get baptized, to the front of the room for baptism.
“It was really wonderful, joyful and spontaneous, with two adults and one child coming to the moment of baptism,” Brust said. “Don and Sally have both been back at church, and they are getting more and more involved. I’m hoping that both of them will get confirmed in January. Cade is there every week with his mom and family. What a joy.”
Both Rodriguez and Brust noted that Holcomb’s commitment to focus on the gospel has been a major factor in their emphasis on bringing individuals in their churches to faith in Christ. Rodriguez said, “I am really grateful that the bishop supports the orthodox Christian faith and believes in Jesus and the gospel, and supports those of us who believe likewise.”