“I never really thought, ‘I need to get baptized,’ ” says Rick.

As a child, God had always been a part of Rick’s life; he was baptized and grew up attending church and Sunday school. While he says he has wandered away several times over the years — during college and when he moved to Hoboken — friends always stepped in and helped redirect his focus and get him back on track.

“There have just been people in my life who have come into it and brought me back to Him,” Rick says.

Rick tried several churches in Hoboken. After meeting his wife in 2005, they went to church about once a month, he says. They started going to Hoboken Grace in 2010, after friends began attending. His wife was baptized the following year.

Over time, Rick says, he got more involved with dinner group and eventually joined the Setup Team.

But it was only early this year that he began thinking about baptism. He had been reading through the daily Bible plan, and baptism kept coming up in scripture.

“Every few months, there was something that just brought me back to it that said, “You need to do it,” he says.

“And then I said, why aren’t I doing it? Going up on stage? Yeah, I’m afraid of crowds. But God wants me to do it. So I just made a decision.”

Rick was baptized Nov. 29, surrounded by his dinner group. It was a huge celebration, he says, with people who have been influential in his journey over the past few years. And his nieces and nephews watched over Livestream.

“I made it out to be this huge deal, like I was going to be nervous,” he says.

For those considering taking the same step, he recommends at least going to What Is Baptism, a brief class offered on the second Sunday of each month.

“Give it time, and your heart will tell you whether it’s right for you,” he says.

To learn more about taking the step of baptism, attend Hoboken Grace’s class What Is Baptism after each service this Sunday.