GADSDEN, AL — My name is Connie Abernethy, I am 67 years old, and every Sunday following a baptism at First Methodist Church of Gadsden I retrieve the wet towels from the baptismal changing room, launder them at home in warm water with a small amount of white vinegar to preserve softness, fold them in the specific tri-fold method I developed in 2007, and return them to the cedar cabinet in the back hallway by the following Thursday. No one has ever asked me to do this. No one has asked me to stop.

I began in April of 2007 after noticing a pile of damp towels left on a folding chair following the baptism of Marcus Tilley, age 11. I folded them. I brought them back. Nineteen years later I am still folding them. Marcus Tilley is 30 years old now and I believe he lives in Huntsville.

In 2014 Pastor Gary Hollins mentioned “the mysterious return of the baptism towels” from the pulpit. He attributed it to “the Lord’s provision.” I was seated in the fourth row.

“The Lord’s provision launders on a warm-water gentle cycle and is back by Thursday.”

“I think what Connie does is genuinely beautiful,” said my daughter, Ellen Abernethy-Cross, 41, when I described the situation to her last Thanksgiving. She then asked me to pass the cranberry sauce and has not brought it up since.

I have folded towels for 214 baptisms. I have a notebook. Fourteen of those baptized have gone on to serve in ministry. I have told no one this. I am telling you now.

At press time, the cedar cabinet had been repainted last spring without consultation and now sticks slightly when opened, which I have resolved to accept.