The United Church of God are doing door-to-door baptisms in Selly

The United Church of God have been conducting door-to-door baptisms on students in Selly Oak.

At first they said they were asking for some help with a project, and people initially thought it was about their dissertation

The Tab spoke to Taisha Pickering, a third year Philosophy, Religion and Ethics student, who on Sunday evening was visited by two members of the church at her house on Hubert Road.

They were going door-to-door on Hubert Road

“They knocked on the door at around 8:30pm on Sunday,” Taisha said. “There were two girls, around student age. At first we thought it was a survey for a dissertation, because they said they were doing a project and had a couple questions.

“They asked us if we were religious and what religion we believed in. They explained that they were from a church in Manchester, and there are churches of their kind all over the world. They even showed us a video on an iPad Mini.

“Then they went on a huge spiel about the Passover, with a matching binder and illustrations.”

The girls invited Taisha and her housemate to their Passover celebration in Manchester, but only if they first agreed to be baptised.

Taisha said: “They said we had to celebrate Passover in order to have everlasting life before moving on to talking about baptism, and how if we want to celebrate Passover we first have to be baptised.

Their Passover is this week, and they offered us lifts to Manchester to attend on the basis that we were baptised right there and then, incase we were to die before the Passover. Me and my housemate had the giggles and were trying not to laugh in the girls’ faces.”

The girls did not invite them into their Selly home as they feared it could be a set-up.

She added: “The whole time my housemate and I thought we were about to be mugged or broken into, but the two girls themselves were actually really lovely.

“They said that the baptism had to be done then, and there wasn’t anyone else with them, so maybe they would have come in and used our kitchen sink.

“I was sort of scared they might kidnap me and force me into a life of salvation.”

“Taisha refused the offer of baptism, however this didn’t deter the door-to-door baptists.

“I told them I was happy with the baptism I was given when I was younger and that I wasn’t even sure that I believed in baptism.

“After telling them twice that I did not want to be baptised at this time, they said thanks for helping them with their homework and left. They then did exactly the same thing to our next-door-neighbours.”

Taisha posted her experience on the Fab Facebook page, gaining over 200 likes and comments including a student who claimed: “I got baptised just for giggles in my kitchen. They wanted to use my shower but my bathroom was too small.”

However, this isn’t the first time The United Church of God has targeted UoB students. Four years ago, Brum alumni Jessica Caluya received a visit from two members of UCG at her halls on The Vale.

Students were targeted in Tennis Courts

Jessica said: “My housemate felt rude saying no so invited them into our flat in Tennis Courts. They used Tesco Cranberry Juice as wine and made us sit fully clothed in our shower whilst they baptised us with a jug.

“It was the strangest experience ever.”