Baptism in an aircraft engine case for Charlotte area sailor on isolated Navy carrier
A crew member from the Charlotte area was baptized at sea as his Navy carrier isolates in the Atlantic Ocean to prevent those aboard from catching COVID-19, Navy officials said.
Airman apprentice Jorden Burrows of Denver, N.C., is a weapons department ordnance handler aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.
Burrows and 11 other sailors were baptized during a gospel faith baptism service on April 22, according to a Navy news release.
The carrier remains in “isolated-at-sea status” to prevent crew members from catching the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Navy officials said. None of the nearly 5,000 crew members have the virus, according to the Navy.
Remaining at sea also allows the ship and its crew “to maintain a high level of readiness during the global COVID-19 pandemic,” officials said in the release.
Burrows was baptized in an aircraft engine case that was cleaned and then filled with water to serve as a baptistery.
“Being able to do this on the ship is by far a lucky thing for me,” Burrows said in the release. “Even though I know my family would love to see it, I got the chance to do it in front and with some of my closest friends .. This is by far the best thing I’ve ever done on the Truman, and I’ve been here for four years.”
A chief warrant officer from Elizabethtown, Ky., performed the baptisms. The officer doubles as the Gospel lay ministry leader aboard the ship..
The ministry is among several regularly practicing faith groups led by volunteer lay leaders on the carrier. Navy chaplains also perform religious services according to their faiths.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 12:56 PM.