On Pentecost, one California pastor is aiming for the world's largest synchronized baptism

(RNS) — On the first Saturday in May, Pastor Mark Francey stood in the chilly waters of Pirate’s Cove, a beach off the coast of Southern California, and baptized dozens of people, one by one, over the course of an hour.

“I’m in there dunking people,” recalled Francey, the leader of a megachurch in Irvine, California. “I love it.”

Francey said more than 1,100 were baptized on May 2 at Pirate’s Cove, while thousands more spectators from many congregations stood on the surrounding rock formation to witness the baptisms and join in worship music. The famous spot, located in Corona del Mar, has been host to large water baptism ceremonies before.

The late Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel movement, baptized hippies there in the 1970s during the Jesus Movement — later depicted in the “Jesus Revolution” movie — and Greg Laurie, Smith’s mentee and leader of Harvest Ministries, began mass baptisms at the same site in the 1990s.

Pirate’s Cove was one in a series of baptism events, sparked by what Francey considered a divinely inspired vision to follow the example of those California church leaders before him and conduct mass baptism events, not just in his state, but across the country and, this year, throughout the world.

Starting in 2023, according to his ministry’s website, more than 4,000 people were baptized in “Baptize SoCal,” when some 200 churches were involved in baptisms at the beach. In 2024, the event went statewide when 300 California churches from the Oregon to the Mexico borders collectively baptized more than 12,000 people. In 2025, according to the baptize.org website, some 7,700 were baptized at another Southern California beach and, a month later, for a “Baptize America” initiative, the organization claimed more than 27,000 were baptized in ceremonies hosted by a total of 650 churches around the country.

Pastors Mark and Rachelle Francey. (Photo courtesy of Oceans Church)

This year, on Pentecost Sunday (May 24), with the support of churches and businesses, Francey expects congregations from dozens of countries to take part in Baptize the World. The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., is set to host a hybrid broadcast event, airing footage of baptisms held that day across the globe, he said. 

Church participants who register via the website to hold baptisms can access slides and posters to announce their role in the event and use “print-ready” designs for T-shirts for volunteers and for the newly baptized. The numbers of baptisms will be tallied afterward based on reports from the registered churches.

Francey, who leads the evangelical Oceans Church, said he thinks water baptism is one thing most Christians agree on and can be both a unifying way to mark their faith and to teach others about it.

“I think the reason why God is blessing what we’re doing is it brings all of his kids together around what we agree on,” he told RNS in an interview.

While churches expect a certain number of baptismal candidates at the events, there are also sometimes people who decide to get baptized on the spot, prompting higher than expected numbers, said Pastor Dustin Bates, leader of the multicampus Church Eleven32 in Dallas and a member of the elder board at Francey’s church.

“We see like a domino effect on these baptisms,” Bates said. “We had this last year in our event: People that were in the congregation then came and began to ask if they could get baptized.”

Dustin and Jamie Bates at the Baptize California event on May 2, 2026, at Pirate’s Cove, a beach in Corona del Mar, Calif. (Photo courtesy of Dustin Bates)

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Francey noted there’s biblical precedent for large baptisms, citing the Book of Acts in the Bible’s New Testament.

“The church was born on the day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago,” he said, recalling the sermon recounted in the biblical book by the Apostle Peter. “It was a prayer meeting that went into the streets that announced good news. And that day, 3,000 people believed, and that day, 3,000 got baptized.”

Churches around the world, from Africa to Europe to Asia, are registered to participate on Pentecost in Baptize the World, which organizers are promoting as “the world’s largest synchronized water baptism.”

“If they want to work together with other churches, if they want to go to a river, if they want to go to a lake, if they want to do a beach baptism, or as simple as just doing it in your local church, all of the above is great,” Francey said.

Though most churches are likely to use full-immersion baptisms, often explained to symbolize the Christian belief in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, other forms of baptism can be included.

A full immersion baptism. (Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado/Unsplash/Creative Commons)

“A lot of the conversation is around: Is it sprinkling? Is it full submersion? And to that, I would just say, the goal isn’t to argue over which way is right for us,” Francey said. “I’m not here to argue over what we disagree on.”

He said participants will represent a spectrum of Protestant churches, including large and small congregations with Baptist and Pentecostal affiliations.

Bates, the Dallas pastor, attended the Baptize California event in early May and plans to baptize more than 30 people at his church on May 24.

“It didn’t matter what church you came from, what background you came from, everybody came together under the same name — Jesus and being baptized in water,” said Bates of the Pirate’s Cove event. “You could feel the unity across the entire beach.”

The events have drawn varied reactions from observers.

The Rev. William D. Watley. (Courtesy photo)

In a commentary published by Baptist News Global, pastor and writer Rodney Kennedy questioned their long-term effect on baptismal candidates.

“A mass baptism creates the illusion of a life-changing event, a peak experience and a dramatic change,” he wrote. “The drama of the event may be powerful but having no lasting impact on the baptized. The drama of the moment may be the end of the drama.”

The Rev. William D. Watley, a scholar and retired African Methodist Episcopal pastor in Atlanta, who addressed the ecumenical meeting of Christian Churches Together about baptism in 2023, said the latest mass baptisms draw greater attention to a key liturgical act for churches.

“Anything these days that the church does across cultural, denominational and national boundaries is significant, whether we’re talking about baptism or the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, or even styles of worship,” he said. “So a unifying act of worship is significant, and should be welcomed.”

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