Churches across the state and nation will celebrate new life in Christ by participating in Baptism Sunday on Sunday, April 27, and local pastors and ministry leaders are making plans for the occasion, which is also known as “Fill the Tank” Sunday.

“We love anytime we get a chance to celebrate baptism at our church,” said Robert Hefner, pastor of Pleasant Garden Baptist Church near Greensboro. “It really is a highlight.”

Hefner, who also serves as president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s board of directors, has led Pleasant Garden Baptist to participate in “Fill the Tank” in the previous years and made an early pledge to participate again this year.

“Anything we can do to keep that opportunity for celebration and rejoicing over what God does in the lives of people who are coming from death to life, we want to get in on it,” Hefner said.

“Fill the Tank” will take place the Sunday after Easter, which Hefner says is ideal timing.

“Easter is always a time to see all things new,” Hefner said. “It’s in the spring when we are seeing things come to life as flowers bloom and trees bud. Plus, Easter is the picture of new life for us as believers. Jesus’ death and resurrection is at the center of everything we do.” 

Todd Unzicker, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, has emphasized “Fill the Tank” since he was elected to lead the work of N.C. Baptists in 2021.

“We are Baptists, and I want to draw attention to baptism,” Unzicker said. “As 3,300 independent, autonomous churches, we ought to be able to come together and cooperate on this.”

Churches can pledge to participate in “Fill the Tank” online by visiting www.fillthetanknc.org. The site also includes a variety of evangelism and discipleship resources, as well as some helpful frequently asked questions about baptism.

Unzicker said “Fill the Tank” reflects his oft-used description of N.C. Baptists being “a movement of churches on mission together.”

“At the end of the day, ‘Fill the Tank’ is an ‘on mission together’ initiative that simply asks churches to fill their tank, their baptistry, their trough, their tub or whatever they use, and believe the Lord is going to save,” Unzicker said. “Hopefully, that also leads people to pray for the lost and be intentional about evangelism. We have to be people who declare the good news that salvation is only found in Jesus Christ.”

Hefner said he’s observed a recent increase in people’s willingness to discuss spiritual matters. 

“There’s a heightened interest in God and openness that we’re seeing nearly every week at our church,” Hefner said. “We have new people in our community moving into our area that are interested in our church, what God is doing and what God wants to do in their lives.”

Jonathan Barbee, lead pastor of Bethesda Baptist Church in Durham, said “Fill the Tank” provides an opportunity to emphasize baptism and obedience in following Christ.

“For us, it’s a call to our church to follow in believer’s baptism,” Barbee said. “On a congregational level, it’s a continuing reminder to take steps of obedience.”

Barbee said participating in “Fill the Tank” in previous years prompted him to lead Bethesda Baptist Church to have a baptism emphasis at least once a quarter. One of those Sundays now coincides with “Fill the Tank” Sunday.

“When we plan it, it’s constantly before our church, asking people to follow in believer’s baptism and explaining what that means,” Barbee said.

For “Fill the Tank,” Barbee said he explains to his congregation that Bethesda Baptist is joining with numerous other churches throughout North Carolina that are also emphasizing and celebrating baptism and new life in Christ.

“I feel like there is a spirit of cooperation and a spirit of obedience with ‘Fill the Tank,’” Barbee said. “Here are these churches calling people to obey, and we are cooperating together to lead people together to follow in baptism.

The commitment by N.C. Baptists to call churches to do that has been a remarkable thing.”

Hefner agrees.

“I love the fact that our state convention is keeping opportunities in front of our churches to be a part of what God is doing,” Hefner said. “To have focal points of connection and celebration in God’s kingdom work through things like missions, baptism and serving our communities has been great to see.

“I’m really grateful for a state convention that’s keeping those connection points and celebration points in front of our churches.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This article originally appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of the Biblical Recorder magazine.)