Throngs of people lined the shore of a mountain lake in western North Carolina on Sunday afternoon as, one by one, hundreds of people waded into the water to be baptized.  Some had come to take that step themselves. Some came to see a spouse or child enter

Throngs of people lined the shore of a mountain lake in western North Carolina on Sunday afternoon as, one by one, hundreds of people waded into the water to be baptized. 

Some had come to take that step themselves. Some came to see a spouse or child enter the water or to support a friend. Some traveled hundreds of miles to take part.

By the end of the afternoon, Biltmore Church baptized 458 people in what Lead Pastor Bruce Frank described as the largest single-day baptism total in the church’s 137-year history. Frank estimated nearly 4,000 people attended the service.

“What a privilege & joy to see 458 people professing faith in Jesus today thru baptism,” Frank wrote in a post on X on Sept. 13. “Grateful for a God who saves & a church who shares.”

The outdoor baptism service has become an annual tradition over the past two decades for the multisite church, which traces its roots to 1889 as Fern Hill Baptist Church. The church holds the outdoor baptism once a year in early September, bringing together members from its seven campuses. The event is held on private property owned by a friend of the church at a lake centrally located to several of Biltmore’s campuses.

Although the church baptizes people regularly during Sunday services throughout the year, the outdoor baptism has grown steadily over the years and has become a special emphasis as families return to regular routines after the summer. 

“It’s part of the rhythm of our church,” Frank said.

Sunday’s total shattered the church’s previous record of 389 baptisms in a single day, set at last year’s outdoor baptism. Frank said church leaders went into the weekend with a little more than 400 people signed up to be baptized, but that number grew after more people responded during services that morning or even at the lake that afternoon. 

“Somewhere between Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon, there were 50 or 60 more people that either came to Christ and took that first step or said, ‘Man, I’ve never professed Christ through baptism,’” Frank said.

According to Frank, the actual number of baptisms may have been 460, with two reported baptisms taking place at one of the church’s campuses that morning, but the church’s social media post reported 458.

Yet for Frank, the significance of the day wasn’t in the numbers alone.

“Behind every one of those, there’s a person,” Frank said. “And behind every one of those people, there’s a story.”

One of those stories involved Nick Friederich, a local tattoo artist and lay leader at Biltmore’s Hendersonville campus. Frank said Friederich regularly shares the gospel with people while he’s giving them a tattoo.

During one of those conversations, Friederich led a friend to faith in Christ. That friend later moved to New York, but he continued watching Biltmore’s services online. When he learned about the outdoor baptism, he decided to return to North Carolina to take part. So he rode his motorcycle from New York on Saturday and was baptized on Sunday.

Others baptized on Sunday included a man with a terminal illness, people in wheelchairs and families in which a child’s step of obedience encouraged a parent or other family member to take the same step.

Frank said Biltmore averages more than 10,000 people across its campuses each week, and he sees a direct link between recent growth at the church and the rising baptism numbers.

“We are not in the crowd business. We are in the disciple-making business,” Frank said. “Our people have really taken that seriously.”

Frank added that the majority of those being baptized at the church are adults, which he attributes to church members personally sharing their faith with neighbors, co-workers and friends.

“We’re seeing a lot of different people from all different walks of life embrace Christ,” Frank said.

Biltmore Church recorded 686 baptisms in 2025, the most in a single year. Following Sunday’s service, Frank said the church has recorded 636 baptisms so far this year and expects to finish 2026 with more than 700, with a goal of 1,000 baptisms in 2027.

“Baptism represents lives being changed and God being at work,” Frank said. “I am continually reminded that we do not invite God to be a part of our story. He invites us to be part of His story.”

Frank called Sunday’s service “very humbling,” adding that the baptisms were a “visible picture” of God at work.

He called it “one of the best days of the year.”

By Chad Austin, BR Managing Editor