A Southern California church is leading a mission to baptize 30,000 people at community events across the state on Sunday.
Oceans Church baptized a whopping 4,166 people at its 2023 “Baptize California” event held at Pirates Cove in Newport Beach, and now Pastor Mark Francie is on track to significantly beat the previous record. .
The Irvine-based church, in collaboration with Oceans, invited its more than 300 congregations across the state to participate in upcoming events. funding Francie said 85 percent of the “million dollar effort” was devoted to this. washington times.
Churches in 54 of California’s 56 counties are scheduled to participate in mass baptism events, including one in Huntington Beach, where up to 10,000 people will attend, according to the pastor. It is said that there is a possibility of baptism.
“Our church is excited about the revival,” Francie told the magazine. “We want to see God wake up. We are tired of the darkness in California. I believe that if you put your money where people are dissatisfied, God will do something great for you.”
The remaining 15% of the costs associated with the baptisms, which also included events in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and Los Angeles’ Redondo Beach, will be covered by outside donors.
“We could be baptizing between 15,000 and 30,000 people a day this year. This will be the largest simultaneous water baptism in history as far as we know,” Francie said.
“We’re swinging for the fences, praying for the fences and preparing for it,” he added. “We leave the results up to God, but we are doing what is best for our team.”
Francie hopes to eventually take her project nationwide and host a “Baptize America” event in June 2025.
“What God is doing in California doesn’t end here,” the pastor said. “It’s going to spread all over America. Like, [God] We did this in a new way: the “Yes People” movement. We believe that if God can make that 30,000 people happen in California, it can happen all over America, and we’re not going to stop there. ”
