Church Planting Q & A – First Baptism

I “launched” a series of church planting Q & A’s last week in celebration of springtime here on my blog and in preparation for tomorrow’s LAUNCH Conference in Baltimore.  Here’s today’s question…

Q: We only launched our new church a few weeks ago we and we already have close to 20 people who’ve indicated a first time decision to follow Christ. How far into this process do you recommend having our first baptism?

A: Get a baptism on the schedule. You might wait until the summer and try to have a big one and get as many people to participate as possible. But if you think you have a dozen or so people who you think are ready now – it can be a big boost.  We’ve done them at the beach (our biggest that we do once a year), in the swimming pool of a health club, and we’ve used borrowed space from other churches.

When you do have a baptism, be sure to promote it and teach on why people should take that step.  And then be sure to capture that event in pictures and video.  We always create a video with music from our baptisms to use to promote upcoming baptisms.

P.S. Only 1 day until the 2009 LAUNCH CONFERENCE in the Baltimore, Maryland area.  If you want to come you can still register now: https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p235&navicat=27

P.S.S. If you’re a church planter, I’d like to give you some FREE RESOURCES (over $75 value).  Just click here: http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/resources/church_planters.php