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1-844-PUSHPAY One moment of generosity, 70,000 lives changed forever
Discover how Baptize the World grew into a global movement of 71,000+ baptisms, and how Pushpay Giving powers the generosity that makes it all possible.
For some people, baptism is a decision months in the making. They’ve told their family and friends, picked the date, and arrived at church eager for their public declaration of faith.
For others it arrives with no warning at all, on an ordinary Sunday, when God stirs something in their heart and they make their way to the water in the clothes they showed up in. Same declaration either way. And neither one happens without a lot of quiet work behind it.
Somebody built the sign-up form, prepared the water, passed out the shirts, and prayed over the group before the big moment. One baptism Sunday can occupy a church staff for weeks.
Now picture 12,000 baptisms on a single afternoon.That’s what happened in California over Pentecost weekend in 2024, in 54 of the state’s 56 counties. Oceans Church—the Orange County church that started the whole thing—covered around 85% of a bill that ran close to a million dollars. Donors covered the rest.
Somebody gave so that could happen. Thousands of somebodies, actually.
Baptize the World has now seen more than 71,000 baptisms across 1,600+ churches, and their mission continues to be fueled almost entirely by faithful givers.They run their donor management through Pushpay Giving, but even before we joined forces, we’ve been cheering their team on.
Pirate’s Cove, and then everywhere
It started in 2023 at Pirate’s Cove, the stretch of Southern California coastline where the Jesus Movement baptisms happened in the seventies. Oceans Church, led by Pastor Mark Francey, called it Baptize SoCal. Around 4,100 people went under the water that Pentecost Sunday.
The next spring they took it statewide. Baptize California pulled in more than 300 congregations and baptized upwards of 12,000 people over the weekend.
All 50 states participated the following year under the name Baptize America, which came in somewhere around 26,000 baptisms.
This past May, on Pentecost Sunday, it went global. The livestream anchored out of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.
Four years, and the thing that hasn’t changed is who does the baptizing. Each country runs under its own name, Baptize Denmark or Baptize Canada, hosted by local congregations rather than a touring ministry, all pointed at one date. No church is asked to hand over its people or rebrand for a weekend.
About that motto
“Be Generous” is our motto, and it’s a claim about timing as much as anything else.
When people see Jesus working in front of them, they want in on it. Giving is often the quickest way to say yes.
Standing on a beach watching a stranger come up out of the water, deciding right then that they want to donate to the ministry that is changing peoples’ lives. If completing that gift takes three days and a password reset, a lot of it never happens. Closing that gap is the reason Pushpay exists.
Nearly all mission work is fueled by giving. Giving is worship, but it’s also how the work gets paid for. That reality can be uncomfortable to navigate, but it’s one we don’t shy away from.
Where we come in
What a movement like this needs from a giving platform is specific and unglamorous. Gifts arrive from individuals and from participating churches, clustered heavily around a couple of weeks in the spring. Each one needs a receipt and a donor record carrying enough history that their team can thank someone in June and invite them back in February. The recurring gifts are what fund the eleven months between events, when the work looks like coaching a pastor through their first ocean baptism or answering the church in Ohio that wants to know about liability waivers.
The Pushpay Giving platform funds the full donation amount rather than the net after fees, so what shows up in their account matches what donors gave. Card gifts deposit in two business days.
We’re honored to be the trusted giving solution for Baptize the World because beyond the business relationship, our heart at Pushpay is to move ministry forward. Their team gets people to the water, we ensure that every intended donation meets them there.
Join the movement
If your church would like to join the movement, Baptize the World’s next Global Day of Baptism is on Pentecost Sunday, May 16, 2027. There’s also a gathering planned in Brazil in February.
Everything is at baptize.org: the sign-up for 2027, the asset library, and a way to give. If your spring calendar is already full, consider funding another church or organization’s day of baptism!
And if you’re curious about the software that supports their giving, take the self-guided tour of the Pushpay Giving platform today.
