As churches go, Crestline Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa isn’t old — it will celebrate its 30th birthday at the end of October.
But it had already lived through a whole life cycle by the time they called Clay Womble as their pastor in October 2022.
Their founding pastor, Ed King, had been there for most of the church’s history, then developed health problems and passed away. The church struggled to find its feet with new leadership, then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“They were down to about 15 to 20 in worship and some were trying to decide if they were going to shut the doors or not,” said Womble, who serves bivocationally. “But that remnant felt like God wasn’t through.”
And in the past year, they’ve had 37 people make decisions to follow Christ and are now averaging close to 100 people in worship each Sunday. Where the parking lot was empty, people are now parking in the grass, Womble said.
‘Knocking down walls’
“We’re now knocking walls out, making classes bigger and we’ve got classes meeting in the auditorium,” he said. “We just put a digital sign out front, and we’re painting the buildings and fixing things up. These folks are excited; they’re going and doing.”
They also just hired their second staff person — Ron Burns, minister of music and worship.
Womble said when he first arrived as pastor, there was an adult Sunday School class, and if someone came with a child, someone would just go and keep him or her in the nursery. He encouraged them to go ahead and plan for children’s classes instead, anticipating that guests were going to show up.
And they have. Womble has continued to tell them that everyone in the church should have as their goal to help one person know Christ and get involved in the church each year. As church members have invited guests, they’ve continued to grow across all age groups.
Doing the work
The church’s Facebook page is a running testimony of what God is doing at the church.
“It’s God,” Womble said. “I tell our folks, let’s be faithful, let’s pray earnestly and let’s do the work.”
Jeff Knight, lead mission strategist for Tuscaloosa County Baptist Association, said the Lord is doing wonderful things at Crestline.
“I think Pastor Clay would echo these sentiments — Crestline does not have some magic bullet, just simply the favor of the Lord and a pastor and people who are very intentional about the Great Commission,” Knight said. “The story that God is writing there is truly an inspiration to all our churches.”
For more information about Crestline Baptist, visit facebook.com/cbctuscaloosa.
Share with others: