50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 537 The Bishop Takes Action Personally
Knowing that he had become a hot commodity in the church, Sun Zhiwei relaxed. "Since you need my help, that makes things easier. I don't need to be so nervous anymore."

“Pastor Owen, we’re available anytime.” Sun Zhiwei has been relatively free lately and doesn’t have any tasks, while Tong Jiajia has already taken leave from work and is busy with wedding preparations.

"Since that's the case, why not do it today? All the believers here can be your witnesses."

For both sides, the sooner the ceremony is held, the better.

Sun Zhiwei was waiting to hold his wedding in the church after he joined the church. The pastor couldn't let such a fat sheep get away, so everyone got what they wanted.

“We have no problem with that. So when does the doctrinal assessment begin?” If the other party required him to study for half a year, he couldn’t wait that long. It would be much easier to go directly into the assessment process.

“Mr. James, the so-called doctrinal test is actually an examination of the believer’s understanding of the doctrine.”

“From our conversation just now, I have learned that your understanding of the doctrine is sufficient and you do not need to take an exam.”

Why bother with the exams? What if they fail? Then the whole thing will fall through.

A billionaire! There isn't a single person that wealthy among the church's members. If he dares to mess things up, the senior pastor will brick him into a wall.

"I see. Then please help us prepare the ceremony." What a stroke of luck! It turns out that the super-rich can even be exempted from the doctrinal exam. If I had known, I would have revealed my identity long ago.

"Alright, you two, please follow me to the preparation room at the back to get ready."

The so-called preparation involves changing into a white robe, then praying quietly, and learning the actions required for baptism.

The pastor had already decided that among the three ceremonies—baptism, watering, and sprinkling—baptism was the least likely to be chosen because it required a long preparation time, was complicated, and prone to problems.

Because baptism requires the use of natural water, such as river water, spring water, well water, snow water, rainwater, etc.

The church usually uses a small basin for children's baptisms, which is easy to solve. If necessary, they can just have someone drive to the Manhattan River to scoop out a basin, which only requires adding a filtration and disinfection process.

But for adult baptism, at least a pool of water needs to be prepared, which can be several tons. Churches don't usually prepare that much natural water.

Pastors themselves drink tap water, but tap water certainly cannot be used for baptism.

In modern baptisms, hot water is prepared in advance to prevent colds so that believers can take a hot bath immediately after baptism.

But at this critical juncture, there's no time to boil water, so that's not an option.

The remaining two are the water-pouring ceremony and the water-sprinkling ceremony. The water-sprinkling ceremony is too simple and is generally used by people with poor health.

The water-pouring ceremony is more solemn and symbolic, so the pastor on duty decided to perform the water-pouring ceremony for the two of them.

Sun Zhiwei and Tong Jiajia were led to the changing room, where they washed their faces, removed their makeup, and changed into white robes. After that, they sat quietly and waited.

The pastor on duty went to the office next door, took out two blank baptism certificates, and began to fill in the information of the two people.

At this moment, there was a knock on the office door.

Before the pastor could respond, the office door was opened from the outside.

Upon hearing this, the pastor looked up and frowned at the door, only to find that it was Bishop Wilson, the cathedral's senior pastor, who quickly stood up to greet him.

“Bishop Wilson, I am filling out certificates for Mr. James and Miss Jiajiali.”

“I know, Reverend Owen. I just thought about it, and I think Mr. James’ baptism will still be conducted by me personally, and Miss Jiajia’s ceremony will still be conducted by you.” “Understood, Bishop. This is Mr. James’ certificate. I haven’t signed it yet. Since you will be conducting the ceremony, it would be better if you signed it.”

Bishop Wilson nodded in satisfaction, then took the certificate, glanced at it, and signed his name in cursive script.

Ten minutes later, the main hall of the church was ready.

On the high platform at the very front, the baptism supplies were laid out, with an antique copper basin in the center, already half-filled with clean water, and a choir on each side of the platform already in place.

All tourists and parishioners were also informed that a baptism ceremony would be held soon, and they were asked to maintain order and watch the ceremony quietly.

Having experienced this ceremony, the congregation members naturally sat in the front row of the viewing area, while other tourists, also very interested, took out their cameras and sat in the back row.

Soon after, Sun Zhiwei and Tong Jiajia arrived on the stage and stood in their positions.

Then, Pastor Irwin came out and introduced the names of those being baptized today, as well as the pastor to carry out the ceremony.

Then, the leader began to guide the choir in singing hymns, the unique tones and melodies of which sounded quite beautiful.

After the hymns were finished, the ceremony officially began. He asked Tong Jiajia to step forward and began guiding her to utter the vow: "I renounce you, Satan..."

"Return to the Lord without delay, without putting it off day by day."

Then, Tong Jiajia lowered her head, exposing her forehead, and leaned against the edge of the copper basin.

Pastor Owen then used a large, patterned metal goblet to scoop up half a cup of water, and while reciting the Gospel of Matthew, he performed the baptism for Tong Jiajia.

“Jasmine Austin, today I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

At the end of the ceremony, Pastor Irving offered his blessing: "Dear Jacqueline Austin, today you stand on the threshold of faith. Through baptism, you have been accepted into God's family."

"May the holy water wash away all your sins and make your heart as pure as a newborn. May you find the true meaning of life and eternal peace under the light of God."

Afterwards, a believer offered her a clean towel, and Tong Jiajia quickly wiped the water off her forehead before bowing her head to thank the pastor.

Pastor Owen then presented her with the prepared baptism certificate, thus officially concluding Tong Jiajia's baptism ceremony.

Then it was Sun Zhiwei's turn, but at that moment Pastor Owen stepped down.

Just as Sun Zhiwei was wondering, a middle-aged man dressed in a golden bishop's robe walked out from behind the curtain. His attire was extremely intricate with patterns, solemn and dignified, and he was holding a sacred relic in his hand.

When Sun Zhiwei saw this, his lips twitched. He was just there to be baptized, was it really necessary for a regional bishop to personally step in?

Is St. John's Cathedral in New York on the verge of collapse, just waiting for this as a lifeline to keep it afloat?

And where did he get that golden sacrificial robe? Isn't that something only people of Chinese descent wear?

As far as he knew, priests usually had ceremonial robes of various colors, each used for different ceremonies and occasions.

The reason only the vestments are golden is because the Roman Catholic Church understood that the Chinese considered gold to be a symbol of nobility, so they made a special application to the Vatican, which was approved by the previous Pope Pius XII.

When no other colored mourning garments are available, except for funerals, golden yellow mourning garments can replace all other colors.

(End of this chapter)