From ripples to waves, baptismal waters are stirring throughout the West region of Florida as three associations are celebrating record numbers of baptisms.
In 2024 Santa Rosa Baptist Association, Walton County Baptist Association and West Florida Baptist Association all celebrated their highest numbers of baptisms in at least 10 years.
“I am so thankful for the kingdom heart of these associations of churches, advancing the gospel in our West region mission field. I know that each church, pastor and associational mission strategist has been faithfully proclaiming the gospel, and I’m thrilled to see this harvest at decade high levels,” said Brian Nall, West region catalyst for the Florida Baptist Convention.
Santa Rosa Baptist Association: ‘Go and tell’
“We have been encouraging our churches in the area of discipleship,” said Jim Waters, associational mission strategist, Santa Rosa Baptist Association. Following this New Testament model of “going and telling,” the association counted 530 baptisms in 2024, close to a 50% increase over the past decade.
We are encouraging our churches to get the salt out of the saltshaker, by sharing the gospel with others outside of church.
Immanuel Baptist Church and Living Truth Church, both in Pace, each baptized more than 100 believers during the year. Avalon Baptist Church in Milton experienced a revival among the youth group with students and parents coming to salvation and following through with believers’ baptism.
Santa Rosa Baptist Association has been focused on a theme of Together for the Kingdom, with six churches working together on revitalization partnerships. “If there were 1,000 people in every church in Santa Rosa County, we would still fail to reach 70,000 people,” said Waters. “My hope is that we will continue to plant churches in an effort to reach our community with the gospel.”
Walton County Baptist Association: ‘Getting the salt out of the saltshaker’
Walton County Baptist Association jumped from a 10-year average of 80 baptisms per year to 126 baptisms in 2024, more than a 50% increase. Gaskin First Baptist Church, a rural church with 150 in worship each week, celebrated 20 baptisms. First Baptist Church of Woodlawn, averages 40 in attendance and baptized six believers in the past year.
First Baptist Church of DeFuniak Springs, with an average attendance of 270, made a play for area high school sports teams, reaching and baptizing 35 believers including several young athletes.
Prayer and witnessing were instrumental to the rise in baptisms. “We are encouraging our churches to get the salt out of the saltshaker, by sharing the gospel with others outside of church,” said Tim Benson, interim associational mission strategist, Walton County Baptist Association.
“Jesus invited seekers to ‘come and see.’ We have followed that model with event evangelism where we invite the lost to ‘come and see.’ In Matthew 28, Jesus instructed His followers to ‘go and tell.’ We hope to move the ‘come and see’ crowd in our pews into becoming the ‘go and tell’ crowd outside the four walls of our churches,” added Benson.
Like other associations, Walton County Baptist Association hopes to plant new churches and revitalize declining churches to further reach its community with the gospel.
West Florida Baptist Association: ‘Something exciting happening’
West Florida Baptist Association also saw a significant increase in the number of baptisms in 2024. The 110 baptisms across the association in 2024 was an increase of about 70% from the 60 to 70 baptisms per year over the past 10 years.
“We began to create meeting times of celebration, with testimonies of people coming to faith in Christ. This built excitement in other church leaders and fueled passion towards church members to go and tell,” said Caleb Duncan, associational mission strategist, West Florida Baptist Association.
First Baptist Church of Chipley, where Florida Baptist State Convention president Mike Orr, serves as pastor, baptized 72 believers in 2024 as it saw a mighty move of God in the small, rural community.
“Something exciting is happening here and across Washington County,” said Duncan.
We want to make our churches a beacon of hope for this mission field.
Throughout West Florida Baptist Association, pastors stress the importance of following Jesus’ call to be baptized as a public declaration of faith. Through this teaching, many who are new believers, as well as some believers who had put off baptism, made the decision to follow through in believers’ baptism.
Duncan added, “We believe that a moving of the Holy Spirit, an increase of prayer activity in many churches, an excitement among pastors and church leaders, and an emphasis on everyday disciple-making for ‘ordinary’ Christians all contributed to the growth of the kingdom of God.”
In 2024, Duncan deployed the countywide, multidenominational “Annual Washington County Church Survey” in which he discovered that 15% of residents are in church on any given Sunday, with only 3% in a Southern Baptist Convention church. With these statistics in mind, church leaders are communicating a sense of urgency to their members to share the gospel, celebrate the work of God and keep the mission at the forefront.
“We want to make our churches a beacon of hope for this mission field,” said Duncan.
