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Brother Jeffrey Rickman and his wife Sara Beth were already expecting when they moved to Yazoo City from Oklahoma in January. The congregation was able to watch the family adjust to life in their new home, preparing a place for the baby. 

The community was gracious as the Rickmans chose not to learn the sex of the baby, foregoing many modern norms around pregnancy and delivery. There was some anxiety near the end as the pregnancy went too far past the due date, and an induction was required. Afterwards, the Rickmans welcomed Magnolia Lyn into the world on August 11. Church friends were good to give space while life resumed normalcy and extended family came in and out of the parsonage.

Magnolia made her first appearance at the church for the start of our children's ministry. Folks adored her full head of hair and remarked at her heavy birth weight (9 lbs 7 oz). Having heard our church's music and activities from inside the womb for many months prior, she has now enjoyed them all on the outside. She has been seen in the back of the sanctuary for a few Sundays, now, held by her mother while managing her five other children.

Brother Jeffrey preached on the practice of infant baptism for two weeks prior to Magnolia's baptism. On Sunday, August 30, he showed how baptism mirrors circumcision, which was appropriately done on the eighth day after a boy's birth. On Sunday, September 6, Jeffrey directed the congregation to Acts 16, in which entire households were baptized based on the faith of the head of the household. These sermons remain up on our YouTube page.

Jeffrey's first baptism in our church was that of Jack Harris, son of Stephen and Emily Harris, on Easter Sunday, April 5. The congregation was already familiar with the baptism method: Turn the baby face down, then pour water all over that baby in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The parents vowed to raise the baby in the fear and admonition of the Lord. The congregation vowed to do their part to hold parents and baby accountable to their covenant with Christ.

First Methodist Yazoo has been baptizing babies and adults into covenant with Christ through his church for almost two centuries. As we prepare for our bicentennial, it is a worth considering how many have been baptized in our midst these two centuries. May the Lord continue to use us to bring many more into the fold before Christ comes again in glory.

May the Lord bless young Magnolia as she learns what it means to follow Jesus rightly among the saints of First Methodist Yazoo City.