Priest Uses Water Pistol to Baptise Baby During the Pandemic | 22 Words

With churches across the globe closed (or at least the ones that are actually listening to the rules), one priest has come up with a creative way to allow baptisms to go ahead...

This is the worst pandemic our world has seen in decades.

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 The deadly virus has completely taken over the world and it has been spreading at an alarming rate.

World leaders have been left with little choice but to bring their countries to a total stand-still...

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 And many have now banned large and crowded events, including any travel to and from infected countries.

It didn't take long for the virus to reach us here in the States.

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 Our first case was confirmed in Washington in late January after a citizen returned from a trip to China.

Yep, things are now deadly serious...

And many people have been descending into mass hysteria over the risks the virus brings with it.

But despite the rapid rise in deaths and consistent warnings from health officials...

Many people continue to ignore the social distancing rules and go about their days as they please.

Officials have made it perfectly clear that mass gatherings are not allowed to happen until further notice...

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 And this includes religious gatherings, such as going to church on a Sunday.

But it seems that some people are needing God urgently during these difficult times.

via: Rodney Howard-Browne

 Scenes at the River Church in Tampa, Florida recently showed hundreds of people congregating to hear Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne deliver his Sunday Service.

The Pastor vowed to never close his church...

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 Despite every doctor and scientist in the country saying social distancing is the only thing that will prevent the disease from spreading even more.

He clearly has very strong views on the matter.

via: Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne

 The Pastor boasted his place was white-glove clean, saying, "We brought in 13 machines that basically kill every virus in the place, and uh, if somebody walks through the door it’s like, it kills everything on them. If they sneeze, it shoots it down at like 100 mph. It'll neutralize it in split seconds. We have the most sterile building in, I don’t know, all of America."

He's reluctant to abide by the rules.

via: Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne

 "We are not stopping anything. I've got news for you, this church will never close. The only time the church will close is when the Rapture is taking place," he then said.

Many pastors and priests around the world have been live-streaming their services on social media instead of holding mass gatherings...

via: Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne

 And it's unclear why Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne can't do this instead, like many other preachers.

But it seems that Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne has set a trend...

On the religious day of Palm Sunday, thousands of people across the country attended church services.

Our country appears to be in 2 minds about the closures of places of worship...

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 Several governors have designated houses of worship as providing essential services, exempting them from shutdown orders, whilst in other states, places of worship are choosing to defy orders to shut their doors.

It's clear that some preachers aren't aware of the severity of this situation.

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 Jack Roberts, a seventy-six-year-old preacher at Maryville Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, told the Courier Journal that he would rather face a fine than close his doors. "I’m not interested in trying to defy the government," he said, "I don’t want to battle with anybody. What I’d like to do is just preach the gospel, and that’s become more difficult as time’s gone on. And it’s truthfully what I plan on doing."

Of course...

People online aren't happy about these congregations - regardless of whether it is a religious holiday or not.

But for those priests who are following the lockdown rules...

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 They've had to come up with creative ways to let certain services go ahead - like baptisms, for instance.

And it seems this week, a bizarre photo from a "socially distanced" baptism has gone viral.

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 It seems this family wasn't going to let a pandemic get in the way of their child being introduced to the Catholic Church.

And it seems the priest was happy to accommodate... using a water pistol to baptize the baby.

via: Twitter

 10 points for creativity on this one!