When a baptism isn't just a baptism

I frequently get requests from people concerning ancestors who might have been a part of this parish. Sometime before my arrival, a database of the Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, and Burial registers was created. The database is not complete and does have some errors in it, but it certainly provides a shortcut for most of my research.

I do enjoy these forays into history. With complete records from the founding of the parish in 1853, there are some real gems of information recorded by my predecessors. It seems like they didn't see the register as simply a log of sacramental acts, but as a part of the history of the parish. It also speaks to their understanding of the breadth of Jesus' "Come unto me" call. For example, there are marriages, baptisms, confirmations, and burials that have only a first name and notes like "Servant of Mr. X", or "Colored" added to the entry. These begin almost simultaneously with the founding of the parish.

It is also heartbreaking to pass through the Baptism and Burial registers during the time of the many Yellow Fever epidemics that passed through Mobile. Four months after the arrival of one of my predecessors, twins boys were born to the couple. One was stillborn, the other lived for two days. Five months later the rector and his wife became sick with Yellow Fever. He survived but his wife did not. He was apparently too sick to officiate at her burial. Unsurprisingly, he didn't remain with the parish for very long. Ministry can be really hard; this time, life was harder.

I was looking at the database recently for a family who were cousins of a former rector. I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I got the original register out of the vault and began a chronological search. Looking for a baptism entry for two children, I started in the year 1859, the year the oldest was born. I continued reviewing the register until after the youngest child's 10th birthday. Seemed like a reasonable time range, but I didn't find what I was looking for.

During my pass through the Baptism register for the period 1859-1872, I stumbled on a long series of "Private, Sick" baptisms from August through November of 1864. Many of the entries were made by the rector, but almost as many by another cleric. These latter entries came from places all over the southern part of Alabama and also include entries noted "servants" and "colored". There's no Yellow Fever epidemic recorded for 1864, but that was still during the "war", so perhaps it was something else.

It was in this time interval that I stumbled upon a entry that took my breath away. One line, as follows:
    19 Aug. 1864 - Dick (colored) - Adult - Day of his execution

There are many entries in the register with the notation "In Extremis". We baptize babies that aren't expected to survive under that rubric. Adults at baptism are completely different because they are making a confession of faith and turning away from their former selves to become a new creation in Christ. Of course the benefit is forgiveness of sins. Legend has it that Constantine I was baptized on his death bed, so he wouldn't have any opportunity to commit (another) sin before he died.

Looking back at our rite, and considering this particular baptism, the renunciations and adhesions, the baptismal covenant, the water, and the invocation of the Trinity imparting forgiveness for anything past and the creation of a new being in Christ seem so much more powerful than a sacramental confession or extreme unction. If this isn't an example of Jesus' arms wide, beckoning us to him, I don't know what is.