Parents of a 13-year-old boy are angry a church baptised him without their knowledge at an event they say lured him to a park paddling pool with burgers and lollies.

Bay of Plenty mother Jesse Brown and her partner Luke were 'shocked and upset” when their son came home from the park holding a bible and told them he'd just been baptised at a ‘gospel crusade' event.

'He walked in the door, and I said, ‘alright son', and he said, ‘I just got baptised', and I was like – what? I couldn't believe it,” says Brown.

Both parents said they were not anti-religious, but were angry that their permission had not been sought.

'I asked my son if he knew what baptism was, and he didn't have a clue. His mates also did it. They'd had these huge burgers that they loved... they were just getting amongst it like kids do. There was no mention in the advertising for the event that there was baptism involved. It was like it was targetted at kids with the food and activities.”

A family friend spotted a video of their son's baptism on the church's social media pages.

'I was so mad and upset I was nearly crying. It was in an inflatable pool, and they put his head forward which I'd never seen before. I emailed them and asked them to take it down.”

The event in Jubilee Park, Te Puke, Bay of Plenty on March 20 was organised by a Tauranga-based religious organisation called The Freedom Centre, New Zealand, and promised free food for all, and lollies, face-painting and activities for children.

Around 1500 from the local community attended, and team leaders at the church performed 60 baptisms in an inflatable pool, says lead pastor Grace Guneyi, who runs the Tauranga organisation with her partner Adem Guneyi.

A further 100 people made 'decisions for Jesus”.

More than 1500 people attended the event in Jubilee Park, Te Puke on March 19, and there were sixty baptisms. Photo: Supplied/Stuff.

Guneyi confirmed they had received a complaint from the parents of the boy, and that she had phoned to apologise to them.

She says that no proof of age or identity had been requested by team leaders, which was not normal protocol.

'This boy was in the area around the pool waiting to be baptised. There were so many people it got a bit chaotic. It was a genuine mistake that his parents' consent was not sought.”

At the church in Greerton, people aged 14 or over were allowed to choose to be baptised, according to the church's rules she says.

The Tauranga arm is planning to expand into Te Puke.

Other children who had been baptised at the event were part of families who attended, she says, although they were not asked for identity.

People were baptised of their own will, and not lured by free burgers, she says.

'The food was put on as a gesture of pure love for the community. There was no coercion. You didn't have to get baptised if you had a burger.”

Jesse Brown says that the church should have checked.

'She phoned to apologise but then asked me not to speak to the media as they had their reputation to think of. I felt like she cared more about that than actually saying sorry. She also says that he looked older, which is not the point, they should be checking. I was so upset I just put the phone down.”

Brown is concerned that it should not happen again.

'My son is not old enough to make an informed decision. He's never mentioned beliefs or religion before or even been inside a church. He's a young boy – he doesn't need to repent or cleanse himself of sin. If later it was something he wanted to do when he's older, we would support him to learn about it. It upsets me that it was just done quickly like this, with no checking, and in a park, it's just wrong.”

Te Puke builder Scott Taylor believed that free food was offered to attract people to the event.

'It's like burgers for baptism. Free burgers were used to trap people, and my concern is that vulnerable people could be drawn in, without really understanding. It's similar to how gangs recruit people. I had pop-up adverts all week for it, and it wasn't clear that it was a church event, even to me as an adult.”

Another parent, Sam Gareth, contacted Stuff to say while he was not a Christian, his family enjoyed the event.

"It was a nice afternoon, and the food was amazing, it must have cost a fortune. We didn't get baptised, but I liked watching the people who did.”

Beliefs of the church include that sexuality should only be expressed in the context of a marriage between a man and a woman.

The Freedom Centre in Tauranga is the only New Zealand branch of an international organisation called Freedom Ministries, which runs an online giving platform to accept tithes or donations from its followers. The organisation's activities include churches, schools, hospitals and clinics and colleges in Australia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Rwanda.

- Annemarie Quill/Stuff.