Shine H2O

This weekend we will celebrate baptism in all 4 services. I am very excited about this. Up until last year we have done all of our baptisms in Lake Keowee. That has always been exciting, but over the last couple of years we outgrew all of the county parks and other gathering spaces on the lake. So last April we did a spontaneous baptism service on Sunday and God showed up! We baptized 112 people that day. (We also did a couple of other baptism parties last summer at lake Keowee)
We have decided to bring in the swimming pool once again and baptize during the services. It is going to be incredible. DO NOT MISS THIS SUNDAY!

I have been asked by other Pastors how we pulled off a spontaneous baptism. Logistically it was difficult, because although it was spontaneous to the church, it took a lot of planning and preparation from our staff and volunteers to pull it off.
Here are some of the things we had to think through:

Time issues------ How long will it take to baptize larger amounts of people? How do we minimize the time it takes for people to get in and out of the pool? How does that affect the length of the worship set and sermon. (we have 4 services on Sunday, so you have people who are showing up for the next service while the other service is still in progress)

Safety issues----- When you baptize lots of people, they get the floors wet and slippery. We brought in lots of the kind of mats and runners you use at a front entrance for people to wipe their feet on, and laid them down the aisles where people would walk. Plus you have to make sure there is no electrical close by (microphones, etc.)

General issues---- We decided to buy tons of shirts (dark shirts are a must) and gym shorts and towels and gave them to everyone that was baptized. We ordered the T-shirts with our logo on the back and on the front it said, I got dunked at Foothills.
We had lots of volunteers. We had volunteers distributing the shirts, shorts, and towels by size. We had volunteers helping people get in and out of the pool, and writing down the names of the people who were being baptized. We had some people who could counsel people who were still a little unclear, etc.

Preparation issues---You have to figure out how to arrange the chairs to fit a pool in the auditorium. You have to allow plenty of time for the pool to be filled up (and heated, if you are wimps. Our people are tough. No heat!)

Prayer issues--- This is the biggest part to the whole day--Prayer. If God doesn't show up, you will look pretty foolish. So pray hard.


If you have never done this, let me encourage you to consider it. I would say without a doubt that that service was the most moving service we have ever had at Foothills!

If you want to see a little glimpse of what it was like click here, then go to the multimedia tab