Hundreds of people walked into a North Carolina lake and emerged from the water having publicly declared their faith in Jesus Christ during a record-setting day for one local church.

Biltmore Church baptized 458 people during its annual Outdoor Baptism event in September marking the largest single-day baptism in the congregation’s 137-year history.

The multisite church gathered at a private property in Fletcher, North Carolina, where believers from its various locations came together for the celebration. The property, owned by a friend of the congregation, includes a lake and sits near several of Biltmore’s campuses.

Executive Pastor Devin Goins told The Christian Post that seeing so many people take that step of faith was “very humbling for us,” particularly because “baptism represents lives being changed and God being at work.”

“We see and celebrate all of this while being continually reminded that we do not invite God to be part of our story and that instead He invites us to be part of His story,” Goins said.

Biltmore regularly holds baptisms during its Sunday worship services, but Outdoor Baptism has become an annual opportunity to bring the entire church together to celebrate people who have placed their faith in Christ.

Before the event, church staff personally contacted each person who expressed interest in being baptized to make sure they understood the significance of the decision and were ready to take what Goins described as a “next step of obedience as a Christ-follower.”

Behind the remarkable number were hundreds of individual stories.

One person traveled from New York to North Carolina specifically to be baptized. Others who use wheelchairs were assisted into the lake so they could participate.

The church also witnessed faith spreading within families.

“We also saw several families where a child’s step of obedience encouraged a parent or another family member to take the same step,” Goins said.

The church’s involvement did not end when people left the water. Biltmore contacted those baptized about opportunities to continue growing in their faith. People who live outside the area were encouraged to connect with a local church.

“Our job as disciples and disciple makers is to journey alongside people in their relationship with Jesus and help them continue taking their next steps,” Goins said.

The 458 baptisms represent a major increase from Biltmore’s 2023 Outdoor Baptism event, when 279 people were baptized at the gathering, and three more were baptized during morning worship services.

Biltmore’s roots stretch back to 1889, when Fern Hill Baptist Church was founded on the Biltmore Estate with just 25 members. More than a century later, the church has expanded to multiple campuses across western North Carolina.

For Goins, however, the record-setting number is ultimately about something much bigger than church growth.

He said the day offered “an opportunity to celebrate and praise God for being at work in our midst and Jesus dying in our place.”

And for those who witnessed the baptisms but have not yet put their faith in Christ, Goins hopes the sight of hundreds publicly declaring their faith will lead to something more.

“Our hope would be that it sparks a desire to ask questions about Jesus and stir a genuine curiosity about what it means to be a Christ-follower,” he said.