WICHITA FALLS--Colonial Baptist Church in Wichita Falls made a splash this summer with a baptismal service at the city's new water park.

Not only did the local newspaper feature the church's baptism of 63 people on its front page, but the NBC television affiliate also noted the event.

After the outdoor baptism was reported in those two venues, the church received media attention from across the country.

Pastor Tim Wheat knows at least two families who came to church as a result of seeing the church's media coverage, and he said that number might be higher because attendance has increased.

But publicity wasn't the intent behind holding the service at Castaway Cove water park, Wheat said.

"The past two years, the church has done a summer baptism event at a local swimming pool. But with the opening of the water park, we decided to go all out and give us a boost during the summer months," he said.

Even more important was the opportunity to get the entire congregation together at the same time. About 1,100 people from the church attended the baptism, almost equaling the number of people who attend all of the four services each weekend at the church.

Colonial holds a Saturday evening service and three more services Sunday morning, with a combined attendance of about 1,200 people. The church's sanctuary capacity "maxes out at about 475," Wheat said. "We might be able to squeeze in 500 using the balcony, but that's really too many.

"What I really tried to hold up as the value of this is that we were able to have a sense of community since our facility doesn't allow us to come together on a regular basis."

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Photo Caption: Pastor Tim Wheat of Colonial Baptist Church in Wichita Falls baptizes new Christians at a water park during an outdoor worship service this summer. The church baptized 63 at the event, which captured media attention across the nation.

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Reprinted from The Baptist Standard. Article By George Henson - Staff Writer.