Saddleback Church celebrates 20,000th baptism
In an outdoor baptismal pool built of native stone, Pastor Rick Warren immersed Mario Soto, a 24-year-old resident of Aliso Viejo, Calif., after the congregation’s 11:15 a.m. service. Soto was among about a dozen other adults being baptized.
It had been quite a weekend for Soto. On Saturday evening, he had proposed to his girlfriend. His new fiancée, Amanda, was part of the crowd cheering him on.
For Soto, his decision to declare publicly his faith in Jesus Christ was an important step on the road toward marriage and starting a family.