Liv is almost completely in water up to her neck, her whole body is in dysentery. She is trembling and has the determination to go under with her face as well. Pastor Runa Noreen Ahl from the Evangelical parish of Fröndenberg and Bausenhagen is in the Ruhr with Liv. Her family and godparents stand around on a small slope. Pastor Ahl reassures Liv that it’s perfectly okay not to go under with your face. But Liv has made up his mind and goes into hiding. “I wanted it for myself, that I know that I dare”says Liv afterwards.
Baptism as an independent decision
Liv wanted to be baptized as a child in kindergarten. “My parents told me to think it over until I’m old enough to make up my own mind”says Liv. Her mother is baptized, her father is not. “It’s a nice feeling when you know that something is there to protect you”, Liv explains her decision. After she was in the freezing dysentery, she changed her clothes. Now she sits relaxed with her family at beer table sets. There is coffee and cake.
Baptismal font for the little ones to be baptized
Over 30 people to be baptized came together on Whit Monday in the Ruhr. It is an ecumenical festival of the Catholic and Protestant communities in Fröndenberg. Stefanie Hühner has her 3-year-old daughter Janna-Lena baptized. Not in the Ruhr, but with water from the Ruhr at a baptismal font. “For us, the water also means belonging to a place and it is something special again, so directly on the Ruhr”says Stefanie Hühner.
Baptism as a shared experience
There will be celebrations at the local canoe club. Benches have been set up on the large meadow by the Ruhr. Families spread out picnic blankets. Luckily the weather cooperated. First there is a joint service. A trombone choir plays in the background. Then the pastors baptize the people to be baptized from the respective parish. A queue quickly forms on the slope of the Ruhr. Everyone is excited that it is now going to the Ruhr.
This is also a special experience for Pastor Runa Norren Ahl: “I did it for the first time, baptized in the middle of the Ruhr. It’s also great after Corona that so many people can come together and celebrate an ecumenical festival.“It shouldn’t have been the last time in Fröndenberg.