The scene could easily be mistaken for a concert hall. On stage, a band pauses, each member behind their instrument – drums, guitar, and a microphone for Grace, the young singer with her curly hair pinned up, wearing a smart blazer over fitted trousers. The lyrics are projected onto a screen so the congregation can follow and sing along, hands raised toward the sky.

But on this Sunday morning in April in an evangelical church in Pontault-Combault, a suburb east of Paris, the attention was not on the musicians, but on an unusual structure to the right of the stage: two large wooden vats.

In the first, filled with water, stood Nathanaël (those identified by first name only declined to give their last name), dressed all in white, his head above the surface. As he entered, the young man slipped, drawing laughter from a moved and captivated audience. Facing him, in the second vat, empty to allow space for a person to stand, Pastor Cédric Pallud prepared to baptize him before a community of several hundred believers. Microphone in hand, the preacher asked Nathanaël, "Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus is your only Lord and Savior?" He then took the young man and immersed him in the water before lifting him out. The baptism was complete.

A few minutes earlier, the young student carefully shared his testimony with the assembly, explaining his decision to formally enter the faith because he felt "unable to move forward alone and to persevere without God." All this occurred between two lively songs sung by Grace and the band. That day, five other adults underwent the same ritual, in front of relatives, friends, and other members of this evocatively named church: "A Family That Grows."

'Megachurches'

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