A powerful movement is underway to encourage people around the world to be baptized.
Mark Francie, pastor of Oceans Church in California, is the creator of Baptize the World, an initiative that brings together people around the world to publicly profess faith in Jesus. Francie is inviting the faith community to join other “churches around the world who come together to baptize on Pentecost Sunday.”
Listen to the latest episode of “Quick Start” 👇
The preacher began his baptismal efforts several years ago after feeling inspired by God to rally people in California. As a result, Francie has planned a 2023 event, Baptize SoCal, at Pirate Cove, the site of the historic Jesus People movement captured in the film The Jesus Revolution.
SoCal Baptisms baptized 4,166 people and made national headlines, but that was just the beginning. The following year, Francie moved to baptism work in California, where she baptized 6,201 people. And in 2025, a broader effort, Baptize America, brought together 27,858 baptizers.
This year, Francie is aiming for even wider horizons with her event “Baptize the World” on May 24th. He spoke to CBN News about his three-year journey to this moment.
“This is an initiative we started here in Southern California,” Francie said. “We started … 36 months ago, and we felt … if the Lord can unite the church in Southern California, we believe that if the Lord can unite the church in Southern California, he can do it in California, and if he can do it all over California, he can do it in America, and if it happens in America, God can do it all over the world.”
The preacher said he is “so excited” to see what God will do through the effort. He believes that effort is rooted in a supernatural encounter with the Lord.
“It was the third year after our church was founded that he gave me this…open vision,” he said. “I’ve only ever seen one person like that in my life. But after I just wrote down what I saw and tried to get God to stop it, God won the argument.”
Francie began writing down what she saw, things that inspired her to start a baptismal movement. And the rest is history. He hopes “Baptize the World” will have a huge impact around the world.
“We’re hopeful that they’ll see perhaps the greatest unity across denominational lines in history, certainly in recent history,” Franchy said. “In every nation, we believe that God continues to unite the world around what we all believe and agree on as Christians. The mission in Matthew 28 is to go to the whole world, not just one part of the world. Making disciples is very clear, and baptism was central to that mission.”
Already, people and churches from a wide range of countries have signed up to participate in Baptize the World. As a result of Francie’s obedience, tens of thousands of people were immersed.
“It’s definitely humbling,” he said of the huge impact.
On May 24th, Francie will host a live broadcast event at the Museum of the Bible that will include footage of baptisms from around the world. For more information or to sign up, visit Baptize.org.
As the number of voices facing censorship from big tech companies continues to grow, sign up for FaithWire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app developed by our parent company to get the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.
