Spontaneous Baptism Weekends Show Stirring Results
Churches are reporting powerful responses from spontaneous baptism weekends, where people respond immediately after Bible teaching about baptism. The article reflects on the stories, emotion, and spiritual momentum surrounding these events.
- Several churches have hosted spontaneous baptism weekends with striking results.
- Stories from San Dimas, Mountain Christian Church, Las Vegas, and Whitewater Crossing highlight moving personal responses.
- The article encourages churches to welcome movements grounded in Bible teaching and the Holy Spiritโs prompting.
By Mark A. Taylor
As Jennifer Taylor indicated in her blog May 6, itโs easy to be cynical about bandwagons. But most of us will agree with her that itโs difficult to argue with the results of what may become a trend in Christian churches: spontaneous baptism weekends.
A Growing Baptism Trend
So far weโve heard about a half-dozen churches that have hosted these events. The preacher presents Bible teaching about baptism and then invites anyone in the crowd who hasnโt been baptized to come forward on the spot. The churches donโt make provision for changing rooms and robes. Those who respond are immersed in their street clothes in an act of selfless commitment.
The results have been thrilling; perhaps astounding is a better word. Weโve reported some of these before, but a summary is in the chart.
And the numbers are just the beginning. Most stirring and delightful are the stories from these days.
Stories from the Water
Jeff Vines at San Dimas tells of an 80-year-old longtime church member who said with trembling voice and a tear running down his cheek, โIโve been going to church all my life and Iโve never experienced this before. All these people . . .โ
Another senior citizen was among those baptized at Mountain Christian Church. With โtrembling lips,โ just before she was lowered in baptism, she said, โJesus, Iโm sorry I kept you waiting so long.โ
Jud Wilhite in Las Vegas โwatched college students, CEOs, soccer moms, bikers, models, entrepreneurs, and every other kind of person you could imagine climb into cold water in their street clothes with no regard for themselves, for their clothes, or for their appearanceโโonly Jesus.
Phil Coleman led worship at the Whitewater Crossing baptismal service. He called it a โGod momentโ when โtime seemingly stood still.โ He describes the scene: โPeople were singing, crying, shouting out, clapping, praying, standing, kneeling, embracing. . . . It was a spiritual encounter most, if not all, had never witnessed.โ
When the Bandwagon Is Worth Joining
Likely more will witness times like these, because Jenniferโs right; church leaders have trouble resisting a bandwagon. But when those bandwagons are moving in response to Bible teaching and the Holy Spiritโs prodding, we do well to encourage others to jump onboard.
For more details about these baptism stories, visit the archives and those for each of our bloggers who post there.
Author: Mark A. Taylor
Mark A. Taylor, who served as Christian Standard editor from 2003 to 2017, retired in June 2017 after almost 41 years with Standard Publishing (Christian Standard Media).
