Baptism

No fancy strokes or daredevil dives - just plenty of splashing and bubble- blowing and fun in the pool. That's what the Ambler YMCA's Waterbabies program is all about. For 20 years, parents have been taking their tots to the Y to learn early, from certified instructors, that swimming pools are fun. Everyone into the pool - even Moms and Dads.

Easter's sunrise refracted through the stained-glass windows of Vine Memorial Baptist Church in West Philadelphia as three men and two boys in white robes climbed stairs behind the altar, ready to take the plunge. The Rev. James S. Allen and his assistant, Alfred Spinner, in similar robes, stood knee-deep yesterday in the glass-fronted baptismal pool in full view of hundreds of Easter worshipers below. For Robert W. Henderson, this moment was 55 years - but more precisely 3 1/2 weeks - in the making.

Water is the key spiritual element in every Christian baptism, whether the supplicant is dunked in a river or sprinkled from a font. Water not only represents a symbolic cleansing of the spirit, it also "marks entry into the Christian community," according to the Rev. Ed Geiger, executive director of the Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia, which is hosting an ecumenical service tomorrow centered on the theme of baptism. "It is a sacrament, a sign, which helps us to visualize and remember that to become a Christian is to be imbued by the energy and power of the Holy Spirit," said Geiger.

Easter has become the season for baptizing newly trained adult believers in the Roman Catholic Church - and, in recent years, in a growing number of other Christian denominations. The adult "spiritual formation" process, known as catechism, had been abandoned centuries ago as too many people came into the church too fast, experts say. But it is being reclaimed, as a range of churches reckons with the Christian illiteracy of many would-be members. "There are more and more people who have no experience in the Christian faith, actually no experience at all," said the Rev. Daniel Benedict, author of Come to the Waters, a 1996 Christian-initiation book of the United Methodist Church.

Question: We just got an invitation to the baptism of my seventh nephew on my husband's side. Once again we were not considered as godparents. I feel snubbed. My husband and I are members of a church of the same denomination as his siblings, but a more liberal synod. In my family, as in my husband's, naming someone as a godparent is a way to forge a stronger connection between an aunt and uncle (or family friend) and a specific child. I feel like the refusal of my husband's siblings to regard us as spiritual equals is a way of pushing us further from their kids' lives.

A former priest accused of sexually abusing more than a dozen girls while serving in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia performed a baptism in Haddonfield in the summer, weeks after he had been defrocked. Camden diocesan officials confirmed yesterday that Nicholas V. Cudemo performed the baptism July 10 at Christ the King Church at a family's request. The Rev. Joseph D. Wallace said he was unaware Cudemo had been laicized, meaning he was no longer a priest, until a church deacon saw the name in the baptism registry a week later and alerted him. Tom Hafner, the deacon, recognized the name because his brother-in-law had been assigned with Cudemo in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

A Currents article Sunday, "Birth pangs of democracy," incorrectly described the biblical account of the first baptism of a non-Jew, an Ethiopian eunuch, as being conducted by Peter. It should have said the baptism was by Philip.

When she was a baby, Nathalie Thebault went through the religious experience that most French infants do: As her proud parents watched, a few drops of water were sprinkled on her forehead by a priest, and she was baptized into the Catholic Church. With that ceremony marking her passage into the Christian world, Thebault, like Catholics everywhere, was given the right to receive the other important Catholic sacraments - to take communion in the church, be married there and buried there.

There were no villains in Haddonfield baptism Raymond A. Rogowski's letter ("Letting defrocked priest baptize was an insult," Oct. 24) demonstrated a lack of objectivity. His accusation that a defrocked priest was "allowed to perform the sacrament of baptism" smacked of both ignorance and an unfortunate proclivity to create villains where none exist. He may not be aware that even a layman can "perform the sacrament of baptism" (or, better, administer the sacrament) and that, in any case, the baptism was valid.

Jacobo Medina and Javier Medina came to Camden County from their native San Lucas Atzala about five years ago to earn a better living. The men, who were not related, connected with relatives and family friends from the small city in central Mexico who were already settled in South Jersey. They all looked out for one another, Eufrecia Trinidad, one of those friends, said Monday. Jacobo Medina hoped to move back to Mexico soon, Trinidad said. "He missed his family and wanted to see his mom," she said in Spanish.

Talk about turnarounds. It took Andy Reid's new defensive coordinator only one game to figure out how to keep the Eagles from blowing a fourth-quarter lead. That progress was a bit obscured on Sunday, however, when the defense also made sure there was no chance of a fourth-quarter lead. The Eagles trailed by two touchdowns after the first quarter, on the way to allowing the Atlanta Falcons to score on each of their first six possessions. By the time Atlanta finally had to punt - for lack of interest in moving the ball more than anything else - barely five minutes remained in the game and the 30-17 final score already was tattooed on the foreheads of the Eagles.

By Maria Archangelo I had my first glimmer of hope when I saw my sometimes self-conscious 14-year-old son play air drums with Max Weinberg to "Jackson Cage. " But it was when he sang "Thunder Road" with 20,000 of the faithful that I knew I had him. I had taken my son to the church of Bruce Springsteen, and he came out a believer. Amen. Going to see Springsteen with my son was a thrilling prospect, but I grew anxious as the day approached. My son is a musician, so I knew he would be impressed by the mighty talent of the E Street Band.

Nearly a year after work started, lawyer-developer Jeff Rotwitt's Sun Center Studios, built in Chester Township with $50 million from banks, investors and taxpayer financing, is frantic with Haddad's Inc. movie setup trailers, Sony studio executives, L.A. and New York grips, model-makers, costumers, makeup artists, caterers and other movie-industry workers and paraphernalia supporting Philadelphia native Will Smith, wife and costar Jada Pinkett-Smith, director...

I want commend the Daily News for highlighting a position that I've supported since first arriving in City Council in 1991 - namely, to hold Council sessions every Thursday, even on weeks where a federal holiday falls on the previous Monday - as well as most Thursdays throughout the summer months. While Council sessions are an extremely important part of our job as elected officials, readers should not forget all the other hard work that takes place on non-session days, and the countless hours consumed by Council people and their staffs attending meetings on critical issue like economic development and job creation, the school district and city financial crisis - as well as issues dealing with education, crime and our overall quality of life.

Question: We just got an invitation to the baptism of my seventh nephew on my husband's side. Once again we were not considered as godparents. I feel snubbed. My husband and I are members of a church of the same denomination as his siblings, but a more liberal synod. In my family, as in my husband's, naming someone as a godparent is a way to forge a stronger connection between an aunt and uncle (or family friend) and a specific child. I feel like the refusal of my husband's siblings to regard us as spiritual equals is a way of pushing us further from their kids' lives.

MIDDLE LINEBACKER and free safety are two critical positions in the Eagles' defense; in both cases, the guy occupying that spot carries responsibilities that extend beyond his own play. So is it a problem that the starting middle linebacker and the starting free safety for this Sunday's wild-card playoff game against Green Bay are seventh-round rookies? And that one of them will not just be making his playoff debut, but his third overall NFL start? One of the few pieces of good news that seemed to come out of last Sunday's regular-season-ending loss to the Dallas Cowboys was middle linebacker Stew Bradley's assertion that he thought he would be able to play this week.

The baptism of the reborn Soul will begin near the nexus of three rivers - in Pittsburgh. On March 11, Philadelphia's franchise in the Arena Football League will take to the indoor carpet for the first time since being crowned champs in July 2008, according to the team's schedule. The team also has a new head coach and a new quarterback. Former player Mike Hohensee is one of the league's winningest coaches, and just a couple of weeks ago, the Soul signed 6-foot-2, 240-pound Justin Allgood, who threw a league-high 109 touchdown passes with Tulsa Talons in 2010.

Question: After I left home 13 years ago, I converted to a different religion from the one in which I was raised. This caused a great deal of friction between me and my parents, which simmers under the surface to this day. When my first child was baptized, I invited my parents to the ceremony, and they declined to come. They cited the "problems" with our church, how disappointed they still were in me, etc. My second child is due to be baptized soon, and I don't know if it's rude to put my parents in the position of having to turn down another invitation (and possibly open myself up to another lecture, which I really want to avoid!

Jacobo Medina and Javier Medina came to Camden County from their native San Lucas Atzala about five years ago to earn a better living. The men, who were not related, connected with relatives and family friends from the small city in central Mexico who were already settled in South Jersey. They all looked out for one another, Eufrecia Trinidad, one of those friends, said Monday. Jacobo Medina hoped to move back to Mexico soon, Trinidad said. "He missed his family and wanted to see his mom," she said in Spanish.

Two men leaving a baptism party were fatally stabbed and two others were injured when the four got into an argument with another group outside a Pennsauken restaurant early yesterday. Police say that Jacobo Medina, 21, and Javier Medina, 22, were killed outside La Hacienda restaurant, at Westfield and Merchantville avenues, about 2:30 a.m. The two men are not related. A third stabbing victim was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where he remained in fair condition yesterday.