North Shore pastors Felipe Soares, front, and Jonathan Burnett, back, smile after one of the 21 baptisms, November 2024. It is believed to be the most baptisms in one day since Mark Finley held a series of meetings at the church more than 10 years ago.
This comes after an energetic month of baptisms in November, when more than a hundred people were baptized during Hispanic Evangelism Week and an additional 21 were baptized at the North Shore church on Nov. 23, 2024.
Illinois Conference Executive Secretary Michael Campos points out that these numbers represent something greater. “It’s meaningful because it represents 14,000 individual stories and life journeys, each one a testament to God’s Grace,” he said. “It also speaks to the commitment of a community of believers that wants to see more lives transformed by knowing Jesus.”
For context, Illinois Conference reported 285 members two years after its founding in 1870, but it took 23 years before that number reached 1,000. The conference reached 13,000 members in 2010.
Matthew Lucio serves as Illinois Conference’s assistant to the president for communication.
