Dave and Craig had gone fishing Saturday night and caught a huge carp. With no place to keep the oversized fish until everyone could see it the next day, the baptistry at the church seemed to be the best place. All the guys would all be there early Sunday morning for Sunday School. As it so happened, the baptistry had been filled for a baptismal service Sunday evening. Dave removed the carp from a wash tub in the trunk of his car while Craig held the back door to the church open. They walked up a short flight of stairs and into the dressing room behind the baptistry and allowed the fish to slip into the water. The carp, unsure of his surroundings, cautiously moved out of Dave’s hands and then with a thrust of his tail was at the other end.
The following morning Craig went to check on the carp and it seemed to be doing fine. It would have created too much commotion to try and retrieve it now so he would have to come back after church had let out, at which point everyone could help.
In preparation for the baptismal service, the heater had been turned on to bring the water temperature to a comfortable 85 degrees. As the service continued and the water heated up, the carp became more active in its attempt to find its way out of the warming water. At one point, the fish jumped and people began to notice it. Finally, after more people were looking past the preacher than were looking at him, the preacher turned around to see what the distraction was. Without any hesitation, he spun around and glared directly at me. At this point, I had not even been informed of the fish and was trying to look as innocent as possible. The preacher regained most of his composure and closed the curtains covering the glass front on the baptistry.
I later found out Dave and Craig graciously consented to remove the fish and admit to nothing.