Most people who get baptized in their religious faith go through a ceremony in a church with a baptismal font or pool; a minister performs the service and family is present, but there’s no rule saying that always has to be the case. At a recent event hosted by Brooklyn’s Institutional International Ministries (IIM), anyone seeking salvation was welcome to join. The fifth annual IIM “Stoop” Water Baptism Service took place along Fort Greene’s Adelphi Street this past Sunday, Aug. 31. The event brought church members together with community groups to section off parts of Adelphi Street and conduct an old-school outdoor church baptism service.
Two metal tubs were placed diagonally across from each other in the middle of the street, directly in front of IIM’s building at 170 Adelphi Street. Filled with water, the tubs were there for anyone passing by on the street or attending the service. People were encouraged to take a moment to reflect, make the decision, and get baptized.
Imani McFadden/Joy Works Photography
Terrence Floyd, youngest brother of George Floyd, with IIM’s Pastor Alex L. Williams and Ty’Ann Williams, IIM’s executive pastor. (Imani McFadden/Joy Works Photography) 
Brooklyn’s Institutional International Ministries hosted fifth annual “Stoop” Water Baptism Service in Fort Greene Credit: (Imani McFadden/Joy Works Photography) 
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Deputy Borough President Kim Council attended IIM’s fifth annual Stoop Water Baptism Service 
IIM’s baptism service also offered face painting for children. (Imani McFadden/Joy Works Photography) 
IIM’s baptism service also offered balloons for children 
IIM’s baptism service also offered bouncy house for children. (Imani McFadden/Joy Works Photography) 
IIIM’s baptism service also offered games for children
Pastor Alex L. Williams, IIM’s leader, emphasized that the Baptism Service event was an important opportunity for the church to go beyond its walls and connect with the wider community.
“We’re really, indeed, excited for the church to be coming out of the four walls, which is what we are called to do,” Williams told the AmNews after the services ended on a comfortable 80-degree day. “We are called to come out of the four walls and to present Jesus Christ to our world and to our community. This is just an opportunity for the church to show the world what love looks like.”
The event was a showcase for the church, as well as for local politicians who had been invited to attend. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Deputy Borough President Kim Council were present, alongside assembly members, district leaders, members of the NYPD 88th Precinct, and local firefighters who had the opportunity to step outside their offices and be accessible to the public.
Activist Terrence Floyd, the youngest brother of George Floyd, also came to the event. He said he also regularly attends IIM services. Floyd said he’d originally met Ty’Ann Williams, IIM’s executive pastor, at one event and later met her husband, Pastor Williams. When he finally saw the two of them together, he said he saw them as a powerhouse.
“I was like, wow!” he said. “And then they prayed for me, you know what I’m saying? When they prayed, I just felt the connection, so now when I travel, when I come back, I try to make it over here.”
Floyd added that he grew up in church, “so, I know the power of prayer, I know the power of fellowship, I know the power of God –– from my own life experiences … I feel community experiences like this, it definitely helps. If it even helps one individual, that one individual will go speak to another individual, and it spreads. It may not get everybody in this one day, but it’ll definitely impact the culture soon.”
During the service, Pastor Williams spoke to worshippers about the issues of gun violence, discrimination, and inequity in Brooklyn, in the country, and throughout the world. He insisted that it was important for the church to take an active role in demonstrating care and compassion. In Brooklyn, which is often nicknamed the “borough of churches,” he said, churches are obligated to model ways for the community to prosper.
“If the church does not show love, where else can we find love?” he asked. “We spread this slogan, ‘Spread love, it’s the Brooklyn Way,’ but we’re seeing gun violence. We’re seeing discrimination. We’re seeing inequities.
“We believe that love of others can sometimes be conditional, but we serve a God whose love is unconditional. The scripture tells us in John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
“In a world that we isolate and we make love conditional based on race, creed, ethnicity, socioeconomic backgrounds, the church needs to represent and present what Christ’s love looks like,” he continued. “No matter what skin color you are, no matter if you’re a migrant, no matter the conditions you’ve come to this country [under], we believe in showing the community –– and the world –– real love.”