Stop tragedy of river baptisms

The 14 people – including an infant – who drowned during a baptism in December, clearly did not send a strong enough message to some churches as they continue to conduct these ceremonies, despite streams and rivers overflowing during the rainy season.

Churches are meant to be citadels of faith, where believers congregate and worship in their quest for salvation.

Yet they almost always hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

We’ve had unbelievable occurrences in some churches, such as congregants being fed grass, made to drink petrol and eat snakes – all in the name of God?

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As we report today, at least three more people were swept away by currents in similar circumstances.

This is because some of these churches, which are mostly informal, insist on baptism in rivers – perhaps because Jesus’ own baptism by John the Baptist was in the River Jordan.

Baptisms in streams and rivers should be reconsidered or, better still, regulated.

Government should be seen to be doing something to discourage such practices, failing which, the pastors and bishops conducting them should face the might of the law.

It is easy to blame the mostly poor congregants but the reality is, they belong to those churches because they are made to believe it is the only way to prepare for the hereafter.