Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 3
Rosie went ahead with baptism despite “real doubts” about her Amish church and later said she “never quite rested easily” because of the bishop who baptized her; what assumptions about baptism, conscience, and church authority are embedded in her discomfort, and how does that compare to common evangelical certainty that baptism is mainly a personal symbol rather than a weighty communal act?
Another way to ask: Rosie was baptized even though she had serious doubts about her church and the bishop. What does her discomfort show about how she saw baptism, conscience, and church authority, and how is that different from the view that baptism is mainly a personal symbol?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Rosie’s discomfort assumes baptism is tied to conscience, the integrity of the church, and the spiritual weight of who administers it—not only a private testimony. Compared to a common evangelical view of baptism as mainly symbolic and individual, she treats it as an act with communal and moral seriousness that can trouble a believer for years.
- She “wanted to be baptized,” but had “real doubts about the church we were part of.”
- Her dad’s excommunication and “screwy things… during that whole thing” made her uneasy about joining/baptism in that setting.
- Even after doing it, she later says, “I never quite rested easily about my baptism because of the bishop who baptized me.”
- She and Brian chose later “to be rebaptized,” describing it as being “truly baptized on our faith.”
- The rebaptism was done through a “dear Christian brother… back here in our creek,” emphasizing relational trust and shared faith rather than institutional status.