Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
Oregon church uses mobile baptism truck to bring baptisms beyond church calls
A glass-walled “baptism on wheels” brings faith beyond church walls in Southern Oregon.
By Emma Maple | FāVS News Reporter
Main Points
MEDFORD, Ore. — For anyone in Southern Oregon who can’t make it to a church to be baptized into Christianity, there’s another option: baptism on wheels.
New Song Church, a non-denominational Christian organization located on the outskirts of Medford, has outfitted a delivery truck with see-through glass sides and a tub the size of a small jacuzzi to serve as the ministry’s mobile baptismal.
The truck is somewhat of a rarity, according to Pastor Dan Mickelson.
“It’s kind of a unique sort of expression of Jesus’ life,” he added.
The idea of the mobile baptismal is to take what happens inside the church outside of the church, Mickelson said.
It was a beautiful day
For people like Carla Ray, the mobile baptism truck may be the only way to be baptized comfortably.
Ray, who is 59 and fighting terminal cancer, said her relationship with God really grew strong after her mother passed away on Christmas Day in 2020.
Over the next few years, Ray had many conversations about Christianity and baptism with her neighbor.
“She kept checking in,” Ray remembered — but Ray said she wasn’t ready, because she didn’t feel comfortable walking into a church and being baptized in front of everybody.
One day, Ray’s neighbor called and told her about the mobile baptismal.
Ray immediately scheduled the baptism for Aug. 27, 2025, in a park she frequented with her friend.
“It was a beautiful day,” Ray said, “I could see the sun setting from sitting in that tub.”
Ray’s loved ones gathered to support her, and Ray’s neighbor performed the baptism.
“The water was warm, it was cozy and it was just absolutely beautiful to me,” Ray said. “I cried. I cried that night.”
Mickelson said the baptism truck is designed for people who feel uncomfortable going into a church.
The truck also makes it easy to baptize people while the church is doing community outreach with people they meet on the streets, Mickelson said.
The side of the truck lists five Bible verses that complement the four-step pitch that Mickelson gives to willing listeners he meets while doing community outreach. If people want, Mickelson will pray with them to accept Jesus into their heart and can also baptize them.
Two smaller churches without baptismal tanks of their own have also asked to use the truck, Mickelson said.
Mickelson said he got the idea for a mobile baptismal after he prayed with a wildland firefighter who couldn’t come to church on Sunday due to work. So, to complete the ritual, Mickelson took him to his pool instead.
Afterward, Mickelson said, the firefighter looked at him and said “you guys should have a mobile baptism.”
The pastor jumped on the idea and found a church in Mississippi that had a similar set up.
“We plagiarized it,” Mickelson said, smiling.
Mickelson paid for a large portion of the truck, and the required renovations, with an insurance settlement that came after he was injured in a motorcycle accident. The total cost was around $50,000, Mickelson said.
In addition to a baptismal pool, the truck has a small curtained off area for changing, clear windows for easy viewing, a slew of Bible verses on the side and free sweatshirts, sweatpants and Bibles for people.
The water is kept warm with a propane tank.
The church has had the truck for about a year, according to Mickelson, and has baptized about 50 people.
The truck, which recently took part in Medford’s annual Pear Blossom Parade, often garners curiosity from passers-by, according to Mickelson.
Earlier in April, Mickelson was preparing to baptize a man that he had met in a parking lot when someone walked up and asked what was going on. Mickelson explained the situation to him and then asked if he was a Christian.
When the man identified himself as Catholic, Mickelson invited him to take part in the ceremony by performing the baptism himself.
After the baptism, Mickelson remembered, “their faces were radiant with joy — both of them.”
In Mickelson’s view, one does not have to be baptized in order to be saved. But, he said, he’s seen that people with an authentic calling want to be baptized.
“Baptism is an outward expression of what happens in the heart,” he said.
“You don’t have to be baptized to be saved,” he added. “But it does give a person a very powerful experience of God.”
‘Bring God to people’
Mickelson said he thinks the United States is in need of a great spiritual awakening, and doing things outside of the box of traditional Christianity, like the mobile baptismal, may be one of the ways to spur that on.
“I think one of the secrets,” Mickelson said, “is to not just expect people to come to a building to meet God, but to bring God to people.”
FāVS News uses professional journalists and thoughtful commentary to explore faith, values and ethics. Support journalism like this by making a tax-deductible donation. FāVS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. © FāVS News. All rights reserved. Reproduction permitted only to authorized media partners or with written permission.
