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Christian baptism takes on different forms, sometimes depending upon tradition.

In the United Methodist tradition, some pastors liken our view of the mode of baptism to Burger King: We'll do it your way. You can be sprinkled upon, poured upon, laid upon with wet hands, or dunked, the latter of which has taken place in venues ranging from oceans to swimming pools.

Still, there's something about a river baptism that brings a certain amount of nostalgia and romance to the faith experience — an experience that was heretofore foreign to me.

But then along came the baptism of Rhodyjane Meadows and her son, Zachary Zan Collins.

One mid-summer Sunday morning, Rhodyjane showed up during worship at Roan Mountain United Methodist, where my mother attends. The story goes that after worship she asked if she could play the piano and, after playing a while, was invited back to play the next Sunday. On another occasion, she showed up with her guitar and played both piano and guitar during worship.

As it turns out, Rhodyjane is a storyteller, “flatfoot” dancer, and plays a variety of instruments — autoharp, clawhammer banjo, guitar, piano, bass fiddle, dulcimer, and who knows what else — with an old-time Appalachian music band known as the Roan Mountain Moonshiners.

Rhodyjane wasn't there on the Labor Day weekend Sunday when I preached at Roan Mountain, but I heard something that piqued my interest: Rhodyjane was to be baptized in Doe River the next Sunday afternoon. Despite the many river baptisms that take place in Blount County, it was beyond my own experience — but that would end.

Following worship at Green Meadow United Methodist in Alcoa, I high-tailed it to Upper East Tennessee, turning down Bear Cage Road off of U.S. 19E. The baptismal “font” was a spot on the river at the farm of Hershel Julian. Slowly, the people gathered, set up tables that were eventually filled with pot-luck dishes of barbecue, fried catfish and other Southern delicacies, with the crowd eventually moving to the riverside. The faithful gathered along the river bank and on the bridge spanning the waterway to watch.

'As I went down in the river ...'

Once the water had been tested and a suitable depth found, Rhodyjane gathered her “sisters” around her to sing:

“As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown?
Good Lord show me the way!
O sisters let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
O sisters let's go down
Down in the river to pray ...”

Dennis Milhorn, pastor at Roan Mountain, was joined in the water by Tony Palubicki, who pastors Big Stone Gap (Va.) Presbyterian Church, which Rhodyjane says “raised me up to love the Lord.”

“My 85-year-old mother plays the organ in this church, and has for over 50 years,” Rhodyjane told me in an e-mail.

As the community gathered along the banks of Doe River, as well as a bridge crossing the water, there was a real sense that God was present in that Sacrament — that “sacred moment” where Rhodyjane and her young adult son went down into the river and proclaimed in the “sign act” that they were believers in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

Zach was taken down into the water and after rising up out of the water, Rhodyjane exclaims, “Look! A rainbow!”

United Methodist Bishop William Willimon writes in “Remember Who You Are: Baptism, a Model for Christian Baptism”: “Baptism is the passageway into discipleship, the fitting response to the proclamation of the gospel, the model for what the Christian life is: a life of obedience, servanthood, love, and faithfulness — even unto death.”

Rhodyjane has a vision for where her discipleship is taking her: She's just finished a CD entitled, “Seems Like a Sunday,” which will be marketed by the Alzheimer's Association. She is also seeking certification as a “Therapeutic Musician” for people who find themselves in clinical settings, such as post-op, birthing mothers, children's hospitals and hospice. As she explains, “A therapeutic musician learns to play at a pulse rate and can actually help to stabilize a patient's heart rate, lower blood pressure and pain levels, increase oxygen saturation.”

She emphasizes that it's a ministry of healing.

Sounds like baptism to me.

Buzz Trexler is pastor at Green Meadow United Methodist Church in Alcoa, www.themeadow.org. You can e-mail him at pastorbuzz@nxs.net.