Church of England Pastor Baptizes Sisters in a Circus Big Top Using the Ringmaster's Top Hat as a Font
Rev. Roly Bain is a clown and a Church of England priest who has spent 16 years "traveling the world spreading the Christian message through his work as a clown and wirewalker."
(United Kingdom)—The Church of England often baptizes infants, but usually the baptisms are performed in a church. Not so with 3-year-old Honey Hunt and her baby sister, Poppy, who were recently baptized inside Zippo's Circus ring on the Sussex seafront. According to a BBC report, a ringmaster's top hat doubled as the font, and the service was performed by Rev. Roly Bain who is a clown and a Church of England priest. (Photo: BBC News)
"It was fantastic, we enjoyed it so much," said the children's parents, Clive and Jo Hunt, who had chosen as godparents Mr. Hunt's sister, Becki, a dancer in the circus and married to clown Henri Alaya.
The Reverend Roly, as he likes to be called, has reportedly spent 16 years traveling the world spreading the Christian message through his work as a clown and a wirewalker.
"All my clowning has some sort of Christian content—and this sort of thing is brilliant," he said, adding that he thought the big top was just as appropriate a place for a baptism as a church building.
"It is where the people of God are gathered and it is where these particular people of God live," he said, "and with them all in costume it makes a wonderful event of it."
On a side note, Honey was quoted as saying that she would like to be in the circus when she grew up, but her father said he would rather his daughters became doctors.
