This happened to a pastor I used to know. When he was fresh out of seminary he took a job in a small church in Texas. Being from the North-East he wanted to fit in as much as possible, so he went along with the church’s habits and traditions, even if they appeared strange to him.
On this particular Sunday the congregation met for a baptismal service at the house of one of the members, who had a swimming pool. The pastor was told to put on a wet suit, I suppose so that he wouldn’t get wet. He felt like protesting, but not wanting to make waves (no pun intended) he went along with it. As he entered the pool he immediately knew that something was wrong. He started bobbing on the surface of the water! He could barely touch the bottom with his toes. The first person to be baptized slowly waded towards him. Here he was, floating in the center of the pool trying frantically to stay upright, when he heard one of the elders loudly whisper to someone next to him.
“Oh, no! We forgot to let the air out!”
But it was too late. The pastor proceeded with the baptism as he normally would.
“Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?” he asked the man.
“I do!” came the assured response.
With his right hand he took hold of the man’s folded arms, and put his left hand behind the man’s neck. He moved his arms to the left to immerse him in the water, promptly lost his footing, and both of them went under the water with one big splash!