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Pastor Electrocuted During Baptism

Oct 31, 11:36 PM EST

Texas pastor electrocuted during baptism

By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press Writer

WACO, Texas (AP) -- The University Baptist Church band had just led the congregation in praise songs when the Rev. Kyle Lake stepped into a tank on the stage to baptize a new member, something he did several times a year.

As a packed room of more than 800 people watched, Lake cried out and then fell backward.

Several doctors in the Sunday morning crowd rushed up and pulled the 33-year-old pastor from the water, but Lake had been electrocuted. He was pronounced dead shortly afterward at a hospital.

Some at the service, which was packed for Baylor University homecoming weekend, said Lake had adjusted a microphone outside the tank. Others said it appeared a piece of equipment fell into the water.

"It happened so fast; no one knew what was going on," said Sam Larson, a Minneapolis seminary student who was in Waco visiting fellow Baylor graduates. "It was horrible. Kyle was a guy who loved everybody; he didn't care who you were. And everybody who met him loved him."

Waco police believe it was an accident, said police spokesman Steve Anderson.

Detectives and the city's inspection department on Monday examined the church's electrical system, microphones and band equipment to try to determine exactly what happened, he said.

Randy Childers, who oversees code enforcement for the city, said officials also were reviewing previous inspection reports and permits for the building, which housed a supermarket before the church moved in about 10 years ago.

The funeral service for Lake, who was married and had a 5-year-old daughter and 3-year-old twin sons, was planned for Tuesday at Waco's First Baptist Church.

Lake, a Tyler native, graduated from Baylor in 1994 and the school's Truett Seminary in 1997.

He had been a pastor at University Baptist Church for seven year. The church had grown to about 600 members since it was founded in 1995 as a contemporary church for students at nearby Baylor, the world's largest Baptist university.

"He could speak students' language, and he could capture their attention and hold it," said Jeter Basden, Baylor's director of ministry guidance and one of Lake's professors. "He was funny and deep, and he could communicate with someone who didn't have a church background."

Since news of Lake's death began spreading, several Baptist pastors have talked about making sure their baptism practices are safe, said David Hardage, executive director of the Waco Baptist Association.

But he said the tragedy won't end the tradition of completely submersing someone during a baptism, which symbolizes a Christian's belief that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead. The woman who was to be baptized Sunday wasn't injured, church officials said.

"It's an integral part of the Baptist faith," Hardage said. "For Baptists, we don't believe that baptism is an act of salvation. We believe baptism is an act of obedience and a testimony for what you believe."