OPINION:
A version of this story appeared in the Higher Ground newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Higher Ground delivered directly to your inbox each Sunday.
“We have never seen anything like this in our church.”
That’s what Wayne Bray, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, said last year after 141 people were baptized in one day at his South Carolina house of worship.
Mr. Bray told the Baptist Press the event was “unimaginable” and expressed elation over so many people publicly professing their newfound faith.
Many preachers are finding themselves in the same stunned position. Amid mass confusion and aimless cultural wandering, a slow-building resurgence is afoot — a spiritual hunger that appears to be growing in tandem with culture’s ethical demise.
As the evil, darkness and discontentedness increase, something remarkable is happening: For many, the veil is being lifted. There’s a rising tide of people across America who are snapping out of their stupor as the cultural dumpster fires rage.
Many are recognizing they’ve been sold the festering and putrefying lie that they can be the arbiters of truth. And amid the fallout, they’re seeing that their own hearts, minds and whims will never truly be enough.
This sudden cognizance is ripping them out of the darkness of a beleaguered culture and into the light of a hope-fueled future. It’s a movement manifesting itself in public professions of faith and baptism, a Christian ritual meant to symbolize new life.
Immersing oneself in water is an outward symbol showcasing the death of the old life and a rebirth of sorts — a commitment to living a life built on Jesus and his teachings rather than the whims of the self.
Baptism is a biblical rite that has been around for centuries, as even Jesus himself was baptized by John the Baptist. Yet churches around the nation over the past year have experienced a renewed fervor, with scores of mass baptisms and increasingly larger numbers of people requesting immersion.
Grace Family Church in Tampa, Florida, is one of the latest examples to make headlines, with hundreds of men, women and children flocking to the Fort De Soto beach to take to the water and openly profess their faith.
The mass baptism came after the church decided to rent a stadium and invite 30,000 people to an Easter service. The crowd was so moved by the sermon that 1,200 people became Christians — and two weeks later, nearly 1,000 participated in the baptism.
“I baptized so many people that my back was hurting when I was done,” associate pastor Daryl Black told KLOVE. “But it was worth it.”
Other churches such as Champion Forest Baptist in Houston have reported record numbers of baptisms as well, explaining the size and scope of the associated life change.
“For the third year in a row, we’ve seen a record-breaking number of baptisms — 755 souls publicly declaring their faith in Christ!” the church wrote on X in October. “These aren’t just numbers; they are lives forever changed, families transformed, and testimonies of God’s relentless grace.”
And last month, ministry leaders Jennie Allen and Jonathan Pokluda shared the Gospel, and scores of University of Georgia students were so fired up by the message that the faith leaders found themselves baptizing hundreds of young people in the backs of pickup trucks.
God “is moving!” Ms. Allen wrote after the story went viral.
And testimonies like this just keep coming. Last year, Mark Francey, pastor of Oceans Church in California, felt God calling him to host a mass baptism at Pirate’s Cove, a famed California beach that is home to historic baptism events. He listened to that call and made history, with nearly 4,200 baptisms unfolding in one day — the largest on record.
Weeks later, pastor Greg Laurie shattered that number with a separate baptism at the same location, immersing about 4,500 people in the water. And there’s no end in sight to these stunning happenings.
On May 18 and 19, Mr. Francey is set to host Baptize California, an event that could eclipse all of these previous events. This “statewide movement of water baptisms” is likely to become the “world’s largest synchronized baptism,” with Mr. Francey rallying churches all over California to join in.
The momentum for baptism just keeps growing, with history being made along the way. Meanwhile, unlikely celebrities are increasingly sharing that they, too, have been bitten by the faith bug, with some openly turning to baptism.
Comedian and actor Russell Brand is the latest to claim he’s been baptized, shocking onlookers as he says he has stepped into the Christian faith. And in 2021, actress Kimberly Elise shared photos of her powerful immersion, sparking plenty of headlines.
Hollywood’s interest in faith keeps growing, taking on different forms and affecting people in the process.
Last fall, “The Blind,” a film telling the gritty, real-life story of the Robertson family — stars of “Duck Dynasty” — led to an absolutely unbelievable scene: Dozens of addicts and the homeless for whom the movie was shown were so moved they embraced Jesus and got baptized.
These stories only scratch the surface of what’s unfolding, as people wake up from the big lie at the heart of culture and recognize there’s a God who loves them, cares and wants a relationship.
It’s a moment of individual and corporate healing that America so desperately needs. Let’s pray it continues in the days, weeks, months and years to come.
• Billy Hallowell is a digital TV host and interviewer for Faithwire and CBN News and the co-host of CBN’s “Quick Start Podcast.” He is the author of four books.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.