PALATKA, Fla. — A community baptism is being held Sunday at the Palatka Riverfront in honor of Baylee Holbrook.
The 16-year-old Palatka teen died two weeks ago after being struck by lightning.
Holbrook's pastor at Trinity Baptist Church, Willie McKinnon, says Baylee's death has had a significant impact on members of the community.
"When Baylee was put in the hospital, we started holding prayer vigils at the school and through that first night, a lot of people gave their life to Christ because of the impact she had made," McKinnon said. "We followed that up, we had another prayer vigil and well over 150 kids gave their life to Christ. We followed that up Sunday morning with church service and had another 80 kids come down and give their life to the Lord. And so, we got through all of that and then it was like, how are we going to get all these kids baptized?"
McKinnon says pastors from other denominations offered support as well following Baylee's death. He expects over 200 people to attend the community baptism at 2 p.m. on Sunday and says anyone can attend, just bring a towel.
Honoring Baylee's memory
At Wednesday night's church service, Baylee's father, Matthew, spoke about his daughter two weeks after she died while the two were hunting.
"I just loved the way she loved people," Matthew Holbrook said to the crowd during the service. “I still stay up late and sometimes cry myself to sleep but, I get it, you know what I mean, the selfish part of me want[s] my little girl to be here," he added.
Baylee's memory lives inside the small church, which is just over 1,000 square feet.
But, her memory is also laying the foundation for the new sanctuary next door, which is expected be 10 times bigger than the current size.
"You’ve got bible verses all over this thing," McKinnon said while looking at the concrete foundation of the new church. “Some of them, we’re going to put a border around so that you can still see them," he added.
"Pray like Bay, love like Bay," McKinnon said as he read messages for Baylee from friends and family. "This one’s her mom’s, it says, 'On there love big, pray like Bay, love like Bay, love like Jesus, um mommy girl is what Bay always called her,'" McKinnon said with a smile.
McKinnon says the new church is expected to be done by Easter Sunday in 2024 and has plans to continue honoring Baylee's memory.
"When we get into here, we're going to go to one service and so, I think the start time of that one new service will be 9:31 [a.m.], which is right at the time when she went on to be with Jesus,” McKinnon said.