I had a fun time attending the first Bickertonite baptism in Utah. On a frigid 30 degree day, I witnessed a baptism in the Jordan River. I'll share my thoughts on their church services. Check out our conversation...



https://youtu.be/0NRBxMvB1Qg



If you would like to know more about this Restoration Church, check out these other episodes: https://gospeltangents.com/denominations/bickertonites/



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1st Bickertonite Baptism in Utah

GT  00:00   I've got a special for you today. About a week ago I attended a Bickertonite baptism. The official name of their church is The Church of Jesus Christ. They're based in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And I found out they had their first Utah baptism. So it was fun. Steve Pynakker was out here in Utah, and we got to attend. And, you know, especially since I had David Boice on recently. I'm not going to take over his 52 Churches in 52 Weeks, but I thought it would be fun, just to do one church in this weekend and just tell you my experiences at attending a Church of Jesus Christ baptism here in Utah. The first thing that you'll notice was, it was very cold.  I can't remember if it was 30 or 32 degrees. Apparently, the Bickertonites believe that, just like Jesus, you should be baptized in an open body of water, {chuckling} even if it's December.  They joked about cutting holes in the ice to baptize somebody in the winter. Personally, if it was me, I would probably wait untill summer. {laughing} That's very cold. But the baptism occurred in the Jordan River. And so, I thought I would show you a clip here of the first baptism in Utah, for the Bickertonite Church. The Church of Jesus Christ, here in the Jordan River. And here we go.



 



[Video of Reid being baptized in Jordan River.]



 



01:38   Jacob Reid Betts, having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Ghost, amen.  (Congregation singing.)



GT  02:17   So, the guy who got baptized, his name is Reid Betts and I've got a picture of him here. I just can't believe [he got in cold water.] I'm not that brave. I'm not a polar bear at all. But yeah, it was really cool in the Jordan River. Obviously, that would have a little bit of significance because Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. But of course, this is Jordan river in Utah--Jordan river of Israel are not exactly the same. But it was very, very cold. So we did that. I think Reid lives in the Murray area or something because after the baptism, we got in our cars and we rode to the one of the libraries there in Salt Lake City, in Murray and did the confirmation service. One of the things that I find interesting about the Church of Jesus Christ, the Bickertonite Church, is they have amazing music and I guess this is the second time I've attended. I didn't really talk about the first time, but I'll kind of share some thoughts there. The first time I attended was in Florida with Steve Pynakker, also.  And I swear they have the best piano players, because their music-- I think I might even have a little clip here, I hope. (jazzy gospel music playing with the congregation singing)



GT  04:30   Anyway, that kind of gives you a little bit of taste of the music, and it's just really fun and really, really cool. And so we sang songs for a long time while Reid was getting warm and drying off. {chuckling} Then he showed up. If you've ever been to an LDS baptism or confirmation service, in a lot of ways it is very, very similar.