Hueytown churches unite for citywide revival

Hueytown churches unite for citywide revival

Hueytown churches are in the business of working together, not against each other, said Doug O’Brien, pastor of North Highlands Baptist Church, Hueytown.

“Our goal is to pull ourselves together and show our community camaraderie — that we aren’t in competition with one another, that we love being able to do things together and that our pastors care about each other,” he said.
And that is why more than 10 Hueytown churches held a citywide revival for the fourth consecutive year Feb. 14–18.

“Great things happen when God’s people come together,” Rick Patrick, senior pastor of Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, Hueytown, said of the revival.

“It’s a little bit like heaven on earth when we gather without regard for our individual churches and celebrate the great news of Jesus and the privilege we have to claim our city for Jesus,” he added.

The revival, held for the first time at North Highlands Baptist, featured evangelists Phil Waldrep and David Nasser and Calvin Kelly, senior pastor of Valleydale Baptist Church, Birmingham; Kevin Hamm, senior pastor of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church; and Charles T. Carter, pastor emeritus of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills. Popular worship leaders Shane Barnard and Shane Everett, better known as Shane & Shane, held a concert the night of Feb. 16, which O’Brien believes may have brought in one of the largest crowds ever — 845 people.

“The primary impact (of working together) is a sense of cooperation and unity in sharing the gospel,” Patrick said. “We’re on the same team. Our only opponent is Satan.”