In 2021, First Baptist Church Opelika saw 115 people baptized.
One of those was Bennett Barron, who was baptized on Christmas Eve.
“To be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior and have believer’s baptism is super cool,” said Paul Dunbar, FBC’s kids ministry pastor.
“His birth is for nothing without the cross, and to symbolize [through baptism] what happens when Jesus saves us … just reiterates the love and sacrifice the Lord made for us.”
He said Bennett decided to follow Jesus a while back but wasn’t able to follow up with baptism because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Coming out of the pandemic, he was ready to make his public profession of faith,” Dunbar said. “And after we all chatted, Christmas Eve couldn’t have been a better time.”
Every one of those 115 people baptized at FBC (which was ranked third in the state in number of baptisms in 2021) has a story. So does every other person baptized in Alabama in 2021. That’s what the numbers reported in the Annual Church Profile each year celebrate, said Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
‘Cause for celebration’
“Arguably, some of the most important data reported annually through the ACP is the number of baptisms reported by individual churches each year,” he said. “This is a real cause of celebration for each church and for all Alabama Baptists and Southern Baptists. Celebrating the birth of new Christians makes everything else vitally important.”
Alabama Baptist churches reported a total of 6,302 baptisms in 2021, down a little from 2020 when 6,650 baptisms were reported. Churches self-report baptisms and giving through the ACP.
To download the full giving and baptism report of Alabama Baptist churches, click here. Numbers in this report were provided by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. To contact them, call 800-264-1225.
To read more about baptism and the SBC’s Baptism Sunday emphasis, and to see a list of the Top 15 Alabama Baptist churches in baptisms, click here.
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