Thousands of University of Georgia students attend worship event; 150 baptized, including in the beds of pickups

Around 150 college students from the University of Georgia were baptized in the beds of pickup trucks after a worship event attended by thousands April 3.

The gathering began at the university’s Stegeman Coliseum, where an evangelistic event called Unite Georgia was led by well-known ministry leaders Jennie Allen and Jonathan Pokluda.

“We’re preaching Jesus, confessing sin, all these students, and it’s just so beautiful,” Allen said in a video posted on Instagram after the main event took place, but students continued to worship.

As the gathering in the arena concluded, Allen and Pokluda invited anyone who wanted to become a Christian to the front of the stage.

“All these kids from all over the stadium stand up and pray out loud,” Allen reported in the video.

Desiring to offer them the opportunity to be baptized but warned by the university in advance they could not do so on campus, Allen says the group went to a public parking lot and performed baptisms in the beds of four pickup trucks.

“And we were baptizing kids in the back of four pickup trucks outside, in front of [a frat] house, and all these fraternity guys are watching from their decks. … It’s just insane.” 

Following the baptisms, a hundred or more students continued to worship at a local church until nearly midnight, reflecting the deep impact of the event.

Allen, founder of the IF:Gathering, and Pokluda, lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church, have been at the forefront of evangelistic campus events in the South. 

An event last September at Auburn University in Alabama ignited a series of similar events across campuses in the region. 

Around 5,000 students attended the first event, organized by Tonya Prewett.

After Auburn, the next Unite event is scheduled for May 1 at the University of Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena.