Mass Baptism? A Video This Church Uploaded to YouTube Has a Public School District Investigating

A YouTube video that appears to show a mass baptism unfolding before football practice at a public high school has drawn the ire of an atheist group — and sparked an investigation by a Georgia school district.

The clip in question was reportedly first published on the First Baptist Villa Rica YouTube page.

It came along with a caption that read, "We had the privilege of baptizing a bunch of football players and a coach on the field of Villa Rica High School! We did this right before practice! Take a look and see how God is STILL in our schools!"

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist activist group, sent a letter to the Carroll County School District, demanding that officials investigate the apparent baptism ceremony that unfolded on August 17, calling it an "egregious constitutional violation."

"Please reply detailing the steps being taken to bring Carroll County Schools into compliance with the First Amendment," the letter concludes.

Watch the baptisms below:

The video in question reportedly showed students being submerged in water in what media outlets are calling a mass baptism ceremony.

The district said that it will be "looking into the specifics" of the situation and "will take appropriate steps to ensure all state and federal laws are followed," according to WXIA-TV.

First Baptist pastor Kevin Williams told conservative commentator Todd Starnes that the baptisms were completely voluntary and were not conducted during school hours.

"We live in a free nation. People choose what they want. These people that got baptized – freely chose at a church service to accept Christ and this was a follow up to that," he said. "We’re trying our best as a community to reach out to these kids and love on them and show them there’s a better way – there’s hope. That’s what we are providing through Jesus Christ to these kids."

First Baptist has since removed the video from YouTube.

Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor spoke out against the baptisms in an interview with WXIA-TV, claiming that it is "forcing" students to take part in a religious ritual "to be accepted on a team."

"How are they going to cross their coach? They have no choice," she said. "It's proselytizing, it's coercive, and it's not legal in our schools."

(H/T: WXIA-TV)