From Johnson City to Jackson, 47 Tennessee Baptist churches set aside the Sunday after Easter as a day for baptism. When the day came, 185 people said yes.
“New Life Baptism Day” on April 12, organized by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, marked the first statewide baptism emphasis specific to Tennessee in a number of years, according to Roc Collins, TBMB’s Evangelism Team Leader.
“There have been SBC and NAMB emphases, but this was specifically focused on Tennessee,” Collins said. “The emphasis was specific to the Sunday after Easter because Easter is a natural harvest day. The gospel is so clearly celebrated, that Jesus died, was buried and arose on the third day.”
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Baptism numbers are widely regarded as one of the clearest indicators of evangelism health in Southern Baptist life, and many of the stories that came in reflect that indication.
In Crossville, pastor Doug Elders at First Baptist Fairfield Glade baptized a 78-year-old woman who had walked the aisle on Easter Sunday for the first time at his church.
“She boldly told me, ‘I want to be saved,’” Elders said. “I prayed with her at the altar, she received Jesus and wanted to be baptized.”
In Greeneville, pastor David Green at First Baptist baptized a man he had first met 20 years earlier, when the man’s company did electrical work on the church’s new sanctuary.
“At the close of our worship service two weeks ago, he walked the aisle and with tears in his eyes said, ‘I need to be saved right now,’” Green said. “He felt that his life had come full circle, and he was saved in a church he helped to build.”
New Vision Baptist in Murfreesboro reported 15 baptisms along with three more at its Buchanan campus. The church, which marks the Sunday after Easter as “Raised to Life” Sunday annually, said the statewide emphasis aligned with its existing practice.
Pastor Rich Murray of Mountain View Baptist in Johnson City reported no baptisms on April 12, but said the day still reflected growth when a teenage boy had been baptized by his father the week before on Easter, and two more candidates were scheduled for the following Sunday.
“Although no one was baptized on April 12, we are seeing souls saved and baptisms occurring regularly,” Murray said.
Critics of “immediate-response baptism” services argue the practice can offer false assurance of salvation and diminish a church’s future calls to repent and believe.
Ryan Keaton, TBMB’s strengthening evangelistic disciples team leader, pushes back on the conclusion.
“I understand the concern, because false assurance is a real pastoral issue,” Keaton said. “But the answer isn’t to delay obedience; it’s to be clear about the gospel and careful in our shepherding. In the New Testament, belief and baptism were often closely connected — not because baptism saves, but because it publicly expresses a genuine, repentant faith in Christ.”
‘Front door to discipleship’
Keaton said the key is what happens after the service. TBMB provided discipleship resources to every participating church to support follow-up with newly baptized members.
“Baptism should be the front door to discipleship, not the finish line,” he said. “Churches need clear next steps — community, teaching, accountability — so that what happens in the water is supported by what happens in everyday life.”
He also offered a word of caution about tone.
“Keep it centered on worship, not hype. Celebrate what God is doing, absolutely, but in a way that points attention to Christ, not to numbers, personalities or production. Faithfulness is measured by obedience to Scripture, not by how compelling the moment feels.”
Pat Poindexter of Judson Baptist in Nashville said the statewide emphasis was exactly the push her church needed.
“Thank you for letting us know about Baptism Sunday,” she said. “It was the push we needed to schedule and promote it.”
TBMB plans to make New Life Baptism Day an annual event. With Easter falling on March 28, 2027, Collins said the board will promote April 4 as next year’s date.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Zoë Watkins and originally published by the Baptist and Reflector.
