Baptist or not to Baptist?

I was sprinkled as a baby because my paternal grandmother was Presbyterian. She thought that was sufficient water in one's religious life. However, my mother was raised Baptist and at age 10, I was attending a Southern Baptist church with her. I had a conversion experience. The problem is I do not remember much about that event. I do remember that my paternal grandmother did not approve. The Baptist minister proved to be very astute and won my grandmother over with the words "A little more water won't hurt her." I was duly baptized, then walked away when I became a questioning teenager.

Fifteen years later, I began to search for some meaning in my life. By that time I had a Ph.D. in chemistry and a thirst for knowledge. I studied other religions, then encountered a book by C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, which led to another of his books, Mere Christianity. I decided to try organized Christianity once more. This time I chose that rarest of Texas churches - a liberal Baptist church.

I joined and so did my mother. She was only too happy to have her wayward child back in church. The senior minister invited us to meet with him and another staff member after we indicated that we wished to join by letter. I do not remember much about that meeting except that the semior minister was a good deal more complex than his sermons. Years later, I would know how much work went into each message. Oh, some may not know what "by letter" means. If you are member of a Baptist church, you are a member for life or until you transfer to another church. If you join another Baptist church, then the new church requests "a letter" from your prior church indicating you are a member in good standing.