At First Baptist Church of Oak Island, Easter morning doesn’t start within the confines of the church building walls, but rather on the sands of the beach as they host baptisms in the ocean at sunrise.
Attendees watched from Ocean Crest Pier and the beach below as the weekly outreach service that takes place at the pier turned into a gathering of more than 1,000 people for Resurrection Sunday.
Four individuals had planned to be baptized that morning, but in a moment of spontaneity, a fifth person stepped forward to be baptized on the spot, said Pastor Lyle LaFountain.
“It’s a really evangelistic opportunity out there, where people wouldn’t walk into the doors of a church, but they’ll go to the beach, they’ll go to a pier, and they’ll go hear the Word of God, which is a unique opportunity,” said LaFountain.
The atmosphere that morning, as LaFountain put it, “was so celebratory.” As waves crashed, the crowd joined with cheers to honor the public profession of faith from brothers and sisters in Christ.
One more person was baptized at FBC Oak Island on April 27 — Fill the Tank Sunday — and about 15 more individuals are preparing for another beach baptism this coming week. These are just a few of the hundreds of individuals who were baptized as part of Fill the Tank, a yearly baptism emphasis that usually takes place the Sunday after Easter. Churches are encouraged to participate on any Sunday surrounding Easter.
As of April 29, 74 churches had reported more than 800 baptisms, with more reports expected to come throughout the week.
In western North Carolina, First Baptist Church of Clyde witnessed eight baptisms in the last two weeks and 16 over the last five months, with three more to be scheduled. Months after Hurricane Helene devastated the region, the church has “experienced revival,” said Pastor Byron Burnette.
“There is power in the Word of God when it is proclaimed boldly,” Burnette said. “Our God is still in the saving business. All we have to do is be faithful and preach Christ crucified.”
Brandon Watson, pastor at Oakdale Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, marked the April 27 Fill the Tank date on his first Sunday at Oakdale this January. He challenged the church to pray every week that God would call people to follow Him.
Watson reminded them that they were “filling the tank and even if we didn’t have anyone on the 27th, we would gather around that tank and pray that God would do what only He could do to save people.”
Oakdale had 10 people come forward for baptism.
Families appeared to be a common theme in reports from churches over the weekend. A father baptized his young son, and a husband baptized his wife at NewLife Church in Locust, N.C. A family of four was baptized at Sunset Forest Baptist Church in Gastonia.
First Baptist Church of Hendersonville celebrated 12 baptisms on Sunday, including two siblings who came to faith last year, whose parents discipled them through their decision to follow Christ through baptism. Justin Alexander, lead pastor at FBC Hendersonville, also baptized a married couple.
A deacon at Arran Lake Baptist Church in Fayetteville baptized his son, who then baptized his own wife and son. Two newlywed couples were baptized there, and a family traveled from Virginia to be baptized in their home church, so their mother could witness the baptisms.
“God is moving in a mighty way across our state,” said Currie Tilley, director of the N.C. Baptist Mission Catalysts group.
Tilley witnessed 13 people publicly proclaim faith in Christ through baptism at Crosslink Community Church in Mebane.
“Pastor Ken Tilley encouraged parents as the primary disciple-makers of their children as one father baptized his daughter on Sunday,” he said. “I am thankful for all of the N.C. Baptist churches that participated in Fill the Tank this year!”
Testimonies came from SendNC church plants — with many holding their very first baptisms on Easter and Fill the Tank Sunday. True Point, a plant in their first year of ministry, celebrated three on Easter. Mud Creek Baptist Church celebrated as their church plant in Mexico had 19 baptisms take place.
The Fill the Tank initiative invites new believers or those who haven’t been baptized yet to take a step of obedience and publicly profess their faith in Christ. Pastors and churches are encouraged to plan ahead for baptisms on that Sunday — or any weekend leading up to or following it — trusting and praying that God will save souls when they boldly proclaim the gospel.
It coincides with the North American Mission Board’s nationwide Baptism Sunday. This was the fifth consecutive year of the statewide baptism emphasis.
“Reaching the lost is central to being on mission together,” said Todd Unzicker, N.C. Baptist executive director-treasurer. “The gospel compels us to go and make disciples. We fill the tank because we believe God will move, and we get ready to see lives changed and new believers baptized.”
N.C. Baptist churches reported about 900 baptisms during Fill the Tank Sunday in 2024.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Share your church’s Fill the Tank stories through this form. Liz Tablazon, contributing writer for N.C. Baptists, and Katie Ruth Bowes, editorial aide for the Biblical Recorder, co-authored this article.)
