FRiday Five: H20 and Word

In this Sunday's gospel Nicodemus asks Jesus, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Poor old Nicodemus! He was so confused about the whole "water and Spirit" business of baptism.
For today's five, tell us about your baptismal experiences.

1. When and where were you baptized? Do you remember it? Know any interesting tidbits? I was baptised on May 25, 1969 I know the exact date because I went and got my baptismal certificate out of the desk drawer. Seeing as I was 2.5 months old at the time my memories of it are limited :). I was baptised in the church where my mother grew up (my grandparents were charter members) and where my parents were married. A couple years later my sister was baptised by the minister who had performed my parents' wedding and my baptism -- he wanted to "finish off the family" before his retirement.
2. What's the most unexpected thing you've ever witnessed at a baptism? Nothing comes to mind. I mean kids are kids so it is safe to expect almost anything after all.
3. Does your congregation have any special traditions surrounding baptisms? This congregation not so much although "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry" is almost always a part of the service (this hymn also works for weddings--trust me I know personally--and for funerals, or confirmations, or graduations, pretty much any rite of passage). THe church I attended when in seminary (also the church of my baptism) had at that point a tradition of placing a card at the back of the sanctuary for all in attendance to sign that morning.
4. Are you a godparent or baptismal sponsor? Have a story to tell? Nope. In UCCan tradition the congregation are the godparents, a role that is lived out with uneven results. Since we moved from my birthplace that congregation did their part when I returned as a student a couple decades later. In the past year, I have come to think that sponsors, properly oriented to that role, are actually a good thing.
5. Do you have a favorite baptismal song or hymn? See #3. Also "Out of Deep Unordered Water"