At the end of this past November, the NYT ran a piece called Horse Troughs, Hot Tubs and Hashtags: Baptism Is Getting Wild: In some evangelical churches, a once-staid ritual is returning to its informal roots — and things sometimes get “a little rowdy” along the way.
I know next to nothing about baptismals (I’m Jewish, sooo…) but love finding ones churches use that are outdoors. This one is at the Fields of Wood Bible Park in Murphy NC:
Fields of Wood is probably best known for the biggest one of these most of us will ever see.
Union Springs Missionary Baptist in Talladega AL:
Oak Grove Baptist Church in Gallion AL:
First Mt Pleasant Baptist in Jefferson AL:
Mt Zion Missionary Baptist in Apalachicola FL:
Clementine Hunter’s depiction of a very traditional ceremony, Panorama of Baptism at Cane River, 1945
from the NYT piece:
In South Florida, members of Family Church gather on the beach for afternoon baptisms in the ocean, bracing themselves against the waves and keeping an eye out for sharks. At Walk Church in Las Vegas, leaders set up a folding tub in the courtyard of the middle school that they use for Sunday services. In Mansfield, Texas, Creekwood Church rents out the Hawaiian Falls Waterpark, where twisting slides tower over the ceremony.
“I would have probably thought a decade ago that not having a traditional baptistery would feel disconnected from my tradition,” Mr. Moore reflected a few days after his son’s ceremony, which took place at Immanuel Nashville, where he serves as minister in residence. “But I’ve found it to be the opposite.”