Two news reports have been drawn to our attention, with regard to so-called “holy water.” The first, from the BBC News website (12 May 2006) carries the heading: Church offers holy water car wash and reads:

Church members in Manchester are offering passing motorists a car wash with holy water. Levenshulme Baptist Church regulars plan to clean cars with the gallons of left-over water from this Sunday's baptismal service.

The blessed water from the church's baptism pool, in which people are immersed as part of the service, will be recycled for the washes.

Members say it makes the free washes environmentally friendly. Minister of Levenshulme Baptist Church, Ian Spence: “We are pleased to offer a different kind of service to the community. “However, I can't promise that the cars will run problem-free as a result of the special water used.”

The second article, more recently describes how water from a blocked drain was regarded as Holy Water. The article on 13th May 2008 on the BBC News Website under the heading: Church holy water ’from drains’ records how:

Hundreds of gallons of water which rose from the cellar of a Cambridgeshire church are believed to have come from an old drain. Water was coming up from underneath the Trinity Church in March at a rate of about 10 gallons (45 litres) an hour. Reg Kemp, property steward of Trinity Church, had drunk the “holy” water and said he hoped it could be bottled and become an attraction. But Anglian Water said tests proved it was "environmentally contaminated".

Such is the folly of human wisdom! If only the clerics would attend to the water of the Word to cleanse their way, much folly would be done away with.

CAM