NASHVILLE (BP) – Todd Unzicker admits that having a baptism Sunday might be a bit gimmicky. But Baptists emphasizing baptism should be a slam dunk, right?

The Sunday after Easter, April 16, is designated as Baptism Sunday on the SBC Annual Calendar. Unzicker, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) executive director-treasurer, says he’s all in when it comes to the Great Commission.

“Anything we can do to spur God’s people is worthy of our time,” Unzicker said in this week’s episode of Baptist Press This Week.

So, far nearly 400 North Carolina churches have committed to participate in Baptism Sunday.

Unzicker understands recognizing the emphasis Sunday doesn’t guarantee a baptism but he believes the special attention is helpful.

He recalled an instance in 2021 when a pastor told him they did not have a baptism on the specific Sunday but the pastor said, “It had been the first time in four years that we’d filled it (the baptistry) up. And he said, on that day, two people came forward and said, ‘I need to be baptized.’”

The Sunday gives churches a reason to remind those in attendance what they believe about baptism.

“We believe in believer’s baptism. That is, baptism that is post-conversion by immersion. Baptism really is the original professional of faith,” he said.

He says those who were baptized as a child but were not true believers at the time should be baptized.

The Baptist Faith & Message says, “Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Brandon Porter serves as Associate Vice President for Convention News at the SBC Executive Committee.)