A BAPTISM with a difference took place in a town centre river on a sunny Sunday morning.

People gathered on the bridge over the River Anton, next to Bridge Street Methodist Church, as Mark Doherty was baptised in the water.

Conducted by Reverend Carmel Ieraci, the ceremony carried out in the stretch of river next to the church is the first of its kind in the church’s 111-year history – and it was live streamed on Facebook.

The baptism, on Sunday, 13 August, saw the 61-year-old immersed in the river water as a declaration of his decision to follow the Christian faith.

Explaining joining the church, he said: “I had always had an interest in faith but I have spent my life working and now I’m retired I would like to be a member of a Methodist church and a member of the community.

“I partly decided to be baptised in the river because I am a geologist, so I am a man of the earth, and because Jesus was baptised in a river. I was also attracted to it by the story of Olaf’s connections to the river.

“It was a wonderful experience, although the water was very cold. Being baptised in the river made it more special for me and the congregation who I have got to know very well over the last year.”

Olaf Tryggvason was a Norwegian Viking raider who was welcomed into the Christian church by King Ethelred the Unready. He was baptised and confirmed in Andover in 994 before becoming King of Norway the following year. A plaque marking the event is next to the church.

Following the ceremony, 10-year-old twins Frazer and Ashley Foley presented Mark with a lit candle as a symbol of new life. Reverend Ieraci said: “The baptism was very moving and extremely powerful in that it was community minded, even people who don’t have a connection to the church found it a very special experience.”