How Do You Baptize?
Here at LifeChurch.tv, we've used several different methods to baptize people over the years. I thought I'd put our current process here for those of you that may have a little interest. This is completely informatory.....here goes:
At each LifeChurch.tv location, you'll find that space is very intentional and somewhat limited. At the Tulsa campus, we've got less than 25,000 square feet to house over 3,100 people from time to time. We do not have a permanent baptistery as this would only eat up valuable space when not in use. We have been using soft-sided pools for as long as I can remember. When we were portable, we used the pools, and now in a permanent location we still use them.
We typically set the pools up in a corner of our lobby so that the flow of traffic isn't too interrupted. We use one of the largest soft-sided pools available, so that we can get as many people in it at one time. This helps with getting a large number of people in and out efficiently. We'll set it up on a tarp, and lay down rubber-backed carpet runners for the exit/entry points to the pool. We even gaff-tape down long runs of the rugs to the bathrooms so that people don't slip on the wet concrete.
We'll fill the pool about half full the few days before the weekend to check for leaks and to allow room for warm water to be added later. We use an on-demand heater to fill up the rest of the pool with hot water. In the past, when we were portable, we used a rigged jacuzzi tub heater to warm the water. In the summer, we've put the pool outside to take advantage of the heat.
Finally, we put a few pastors in the pool to baptize several people at once. Sometimes a father will want to baptize their kids and we are excited to be a part of that experience! The nice thing about baptizing multiple people is watching siblings, best friends, or whole families being baptized all at once.
After the weekend is over, there are two ways to empty the pool. The best way is to just step on the side and let the pool empty in a matter of seconds....the indoors option is to use a small sump pump and get it out slowly but surely.
There ya go... pretty much all I know about how we set up the baptism process here at Life. Here's a couple links to help with what we use...thanks for sticking around after this enormously long post!
12' Soft Sided Pool
18' Pool
Sump Pump
