Baptism Services Spark Growth in Megachurches
Kent Fillinger reports on a 2009 trend among megachurches and emerging megachurches that led to thousands of baptisms during special weekend services. The article explores how prayer, clear preaching, practical preparation, and immediate response opportunities contributed to the surge.
- Fifty megachurches and emerging megachurches reported 7,705 baptisms connected to special baptism services in 2009.
- Leaders emphasized prayer, simple biblical teaching, and removing practical barriers to baptism.
- Senior ministers said churches of any size could adapt the approach with strong planning and follow-up.
By Kent Fillinger
What do โkiddieโ pools, black T-shirts, towels, plastic trash bags, preaching, and prayer all have in common? Each of these items was a key part of a recent trend among 50 megachurches and emerging megachurches that resulted in 7,705 baptisms in 2009.
Our churches are often referred to as the independent Christian churches, but it is also fitting to describe them as interdependent Christian churches. For years now, the megachurches and emerging megachurches have networked with one another to share resources and assist one another through various levels of growth. Many of these megachurches have also served as sounding boards and sources of ideas for smaller churches.
Occasionally certain ideas and programs catch fire and spread throughout the ranks of these churches, including such things as 40-day campaigns, podcasting, creating branded or packaged sermon series, the 90-day tithing challenge, and cardboard testimonies (search YouTube if you are not familiar with the last one).
A Surge of Baptisms
A new trend in 2009 was for megachurches and emerging megachurches to hold special baptism services during their regular weekend services. Fifteen of the 50 churches that held special baptism services baptized 100 or more people in a single weekend. Overall, these 15 churches experienced a 91 percent, single-year increase in the total number of baptisms; in 2009 these 50 churches baptized 12,761 people.
The huge surge of baptisms resulting from these special baptism services raised the total number of baptisms for all 114 churches to 27,258 in 2009โa 28 percent increase from the year before. The 54 megachurches accounted for 80 percent of the total number of baptisms.
Last year, the overall baptism ratio (the number of baptisms per 100 people in attendance) increased to 7.6, which was the best baptism ratio since 2000. Crossroads Christian Church (Corona, California) had the highest baptism ratio at 29.6 baptisms per 100 in attendance; Crossroads baptized 2,278 people last year.
We have calculated the โBaptism per Buckโ category for several years to identify how much money each church invested per baptism, based on general fund giving only. For 2009, the average cost per baptism was $22,074, down more than $5,000 per baptism from 2007. The amount invested per baptism ranged from $2,800 to $100,000 per baptism.
The 50 megachurches and emerging megachurches that held special baptism services last year had an average baptism ratio of 9.1, compared with a baptism ratio of 6.3 for the 64 churches that did not have a special emphasis.
Whatโs Different?
You may be saying, โOur church emphasizes baptism every week and we offer an invitation in each worship service as well, so whatโs the difference?โ I spoke with several senior ministers who held one of these baptism services to get their insights.
Jeff Vines of Christโs Church of the Valley (San Dimas, California) said he heard of the idea from a fellow megachurch minister who knew of a little church in North Carolina that had hosted such a service. Vines confessed that some of his fellow staff members doubted this idea would work in Southern California. Vines had been with the church for little more than a year at the time, so this was his first โbigโ leadership decision. As it turned out, his willingness to take a risk resulted in 525 baptisms the first weekend and almost 100 more the next.
Vines emphasizes that a lot of prayer went into that first weekend. He also attributes the success of the special baptism service to these three factors: (1) the reality that megachurches are full of people from denominational backgrounds who may never have heard the biblical message of baptism; (2) preaching the simple, clear biblical teaching of the necessity for baptism for followers of Christ; and (3) planning for all of the details, so as to take away all of the excuses for not immediately being baptized.
Item 3 explains the need for additional baptisteries (i.e., rented kiddie pools), the black T-shirts that those who are baptized can wear for modesty, towels for afterward, trash bags to place on car seats for the ride home, and a host of volunteers to assist during the baptisms and ensure there was follow-up and discipleship after these services.
Vines emphasizes the need to keep the message as simple as possible. He said his sermon was about โcoming into Godโs kingdom.โ His message focused on salvation, and not just baptism, but baptizing people immediately was the goal.
At Parkview Christian Church (Orland Park, Illinois), senior minister Tim Harlow announced the baptism service a few weeks in advance and then preached a message that answered peopleโs questions and objections with a clear emphasis on people responding to be baptized on the spot. To stress his point and to encourage people, Harlow jumped into one of the pools of water in his clothes.
Harlow said he has always preached on baptism, but the immediacy of this message was the key. Harlow said the November 2009 baptism service has created โa wave of revivalโ that the church is still riding. He said because of the spiritual steps people have taken since being baptized, they are hungry for more and have shared their testimony with others in a fresh way. The church has grown from averaging 4,600 to 6,000 in the few months since the baptism service.
Chuck Booher at Crossroads Christian Church (Corona, California) kept his special Palm Sunday 2009 baptism service a secret, and Crossroads baptized 738 people that weekend. Booher also identified the need for preaching and teaching a correct theology of baptism to ground people in the truth and to move them beyond just an emotional experienceโalthough itโs quite moving to see so many being baptized. He also said having a โdiligent planโ in place that includes all of the details already listed was critical.
Booher said baptisms have always been his churchโs measure of success, and that an invitation to come forward and be baptized is offered at every one of Crossroads servicesโstill, the special baptism service met with great success. Booher emphasized Crossroads has a strong decision counseling process that teaches about baptism, and also a follow-up plan in place to help disciple people after they are baptized.
Booher tells stories weekly of the life change people have experienced because of their baptism as a way of continuing to encourage and inspire others to be baptized.
Each of these senior ministers plans to continue holding special baptism services in their weekend services two to three times a year.
They stressed that church size is not a factor in doing such a service, and each one encouraged all churches to try this approach. Booher said senior ministers from smaller churches shouldnโt get caught up by the numbers from the megachurches. He encouraged them to (1) decide โitโs not about meโ as the senior minister, (2) focus on preaching a solid baptism message, (3) overcome the fear of trying it and nobody coming forward for baptism, (4) develop a good plan, and finally (5) let the Spirit of God move and work.
Kent Fillinger is president of 3:STRANDS Consulting (www.3strandsconsulting.com).
Author: Kent Fillinger
Kent Fillinger is President of 3:Strands Consulting, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Regional Vice President with Christian Financial Resources.
