A two-day event resulted in over 12,000 people being water-baptized in California this past weekend (May 18-19, 2024) at multiple venues across the state, CBN reports.
Baptize California was organized by Mark Francey who pastors Oceans Church in Irvine, California.
The main event saw over 6,000 people water baptized at Huntington Beach. It is believed to be the largest mass water baptism ever recorded in the US, beating the previous record of 4,600 set by Greg Laurie in 2023.
The water baptisms were scheduled as part of this year’s Pentecost Sunday service when over 3,000 people were saved and water baptized nearly 2,000 years ago when the Holy Spirit fell in Jerusalem (Acts 2:41).
It is believed, that the early church probably conducted a similar mass baptism.
“It was a surreal and extraordinary day!” Francey said in an interview with CBN News. “[It] felt like we were living in the pages of the books of Acts!”
However, the logistics to handle the baptism of 6,000 people at Huntington Beach required the event to be spread over two days, Saturday and Sunday.
Equally intriguing, it’s estimated that 14,000 people gathered to watch the Huntington baptism and about 1,000 of them made ommitments to Christ.
This included a self-professing Satanist who “immediately got water baptized,” Francey added.
The remaining 6,000 were water-baptized at 300 congregations scattered among 56 of the state’s 58 counties during their Sunday service.
Despite what is happening around the world, something is happening in the spiritual realm.
