McHenry County Blog

Word has reached me that one of my former ministers at the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake has died in Florida.

The Rev. James Paulson was 84 and expired in Cape Coral.

He wrote about conducting my sister Jan’s wedding in his autobiography, observing that the baptism of my soon-to-be brother-in-law Mike Peters was one of the highlights of his career. Read why in the story I’ve linked to above.

The autobiography is entitled,

That journey is now completed.

How often does one’s family get mentioned in a book?

Jim Paulson served the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake from 1968-1973. Paulson is retired now and has written an autobiography entitled,

As he writes about his time in Crystal Lake, he remembers my sister Jan’s July 26, 1969, wedding to Mike Peters. He mixes up my sisters and gets Mike’s first name wrong, but regular readers of McHenry County Blog will know that I make mistakes like that all the time. I’ve made the corrections below:

“Another exciting time for me was when Jan Skinner came to me with her fiancée Mike Peters for pre-marital counseling. Jan had been away to college and come home to her parents’ church to be married.

Her fiancée was Jewish, but he decided to convert to Christianity and wanted to be baptized and join the church before marriage.

I explained to Mike the procedures involved, and he heartily agreed to be baptized and also to receive Holy Communion.

One summer day Cal and Eleanor Skinner, Jan’s parents, and a few friends gathered with us at Crystal Lake.

It was an exciting time when Mike and I waded out waist high in the lake and I immersed him in the water and uttered the words,

“Mike Peters I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

This was my first baptism by immersion, and a Jewish convert at that!

Jan and Mike joined a conservative Baptist Church afterward, and he also became a Baptist minister!

Talk about going all the way from conversion from one religion to another. That seems to set a record for the Skinner and Peters families. So far that has not happened again in my career as a minister.

The baptism was at Gate 21 in Lakewood.

How often does one’s family get mentioned in a book?

Jim Paulson served the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake from 1968-1973. Paulson is retired now and has written an autobiography entitled,

As he writes about his time in Crystal Lake, he remembers my sister Jan’s July 26, 1969, wedding to Mike Peters. He mixes up my sisters and gets Mike’s first name wrong, but regular readers of McHenry County Blog will know that I make mistakes like that all the time. I’ve made the corrections below:

“Another exciting time for me was when Jan Skinner came to me with her fiancée Mike Peters for pre-marital counseling. Jan had been away to college and come home to her parents’ church to be married.

Her fiancée was Jewish, but he decided to convert to Christianity and wanted to be baptized and join the church before marriage.

I explained to Mike the procedures involved, and he heartily agreed to be baptized and also to receive Holy Communion.

One summer day Cal and Eleanor Skinner, Jan’s parents, and a few friends gathered with us at Crystal Lake.

It was an exciting time when Mike and I waded out waist high in the lake and I immersed him in the water and uttered the words,

“Mike Peters I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

This was my first baptism by immersion, and a Jewish convert at that!

Jan and Mike joined a conservative Baptist Church afterward, and he also became a Baptist minister!

Talk about going all the way from conversion from one religion to another. That seems to set a record for the Skinner and Peters families. So far that has not happened again in my career as a minister.

The baptism was at Gate 21 in Lakewood.