Alliance Church: Celebrating a baptism at/in Beaver Creek
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Steve Edwards
Left - right: Pastor Dennis Findorff, Marvin Cross, Lance Halingstad. Pastor Dennis Findorff, lower left of photo, prepares to baptize Marvin Cross, center in water, in Beaver Creek during a weekend event hosted by the Chinook Alliance Church. Lance Halingstad, in the water, assisted Pastor Findorff. Family, friends and congregation members watch from the bank (upper right) as the baptism begins.
The Chinook Alliance Church held its annual church campout and baptism last weekend at Beaver Creek Park south of Havre. It's the eighth similar outing since Reverend Dennis Findorff came to the church as pastor eight years ago. Families gathered to camp at Railroad Pagers Campground on Friday and the baptism capped the weekend on Sunday afternoon. Findorff said, "The weekend is a time for fellowship, worship and baptize outdoors as we celebrate God's creation.
The Chinook church is a part of the larger Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), an evangelical Protestant denomination. The denomination practices baptism by immersion. A public baptism demonstrates a believer's commitment to be a follower of Christ. Described as a 'believer's baptism,' celebrating the sacrament means the believer is undertaking to live a more Christ-like life.
Asked how and why the weekend event got started, Pastor Findorff explained, "It's the latter part of the summer and it seemed a good time to enjoy a different worship setting. Families and individuals can set up camp on Friday and Saturday. We have RV's and tents. This year we had about 10 families or groups that camped." For several years the weekend was held at Rotary Pond in Beaver Creek Park. A long-time member said, "We moved to a different camp because it was hard to keep an eye on the kids around such a big lake. The RR Pagers Campground fits our needs perfectly."
There's also a practical reason for the weekend that involves the baptism. Findorff said, "We need a large amount of water to baptize by immersion. Our church building doesn't have a baptistery where we could do baptisms, so we have to find other locations. At the campground there's a small depression in Beaver Creek that fits our needs perfectly." He said he's also performed baptisms in the Milk River and has borrowed a portable baptistery owned by another Chinook church. Pastor Findorff added, "I think an outdoor baptism is really special for the congregation and for the person being baptized. Jesus was baptized outside and that is the model we are trying to follow."
The weekend is a combination of fellowship and worship. Members and guests who participated enjoyed great weather for the campout and worship. On Sunday about 50 people gathered for worship, shared a potluck dinner and then gathered on the banks of Beaver Creek for the baptism of two people.
