One Sunday this past spring our congregation gathered, as we do each year, to celebrate a baptismal service. The event is a highlight of the church year and an important part of our congregational identity. We gather in the fellowship hall for breakfast. Then, as the tables are being cleared, someone leads out in the folk hymn “I Went Down to the River to Pray,” which we sing with gusto before piling into cars to caravan to a local pond …