Rapid growth a blessing to Bessemer church

Union Hill Baptist Church, Bessemer, has seen tremendous growth during the past two years under the leadership of Senior Pastor Randy Norris. In this short time, church membership has increased by 50 percent and worship attendance has more than quadrupled.
   
The Mud Creek Baptist Association church has grown so fast that its growth strategy team has had to find creative ways to accommodate its steadily increasing membership. “God is really blessing,” said Norris, former student minister and associate pastor at North Highlands Baptist Church, Hueytown. “He is blessing the prayers and the efforts of a lot of people that really want to see God do something that only God can do.”
   
Union Hill’s growth began shortly after Norris joined the church staff in June 2000. Committed to reaching Jefferson County’s unchurched population, he took seven church members to a FAITH clinic in Louisiana. A few months later, those members began teaching the evangelism strategy to other church members. Now in its fifth semester, Union Hill has about 130 FAITH-trained members.
   
“I believe God honors when we go out and do the Great Commission,” said Norris. “We go out each week and knock on doors and make our visits and present the gospel, and we’ve seen a lot of salvation decisions and a lot of growth from that. It’s changed our Sunday School and changed our church.”
   
Also instrumental in expanding Union Hill is the church’s Wednesday night prayer meeting called the house of prayer, where between 80 and 100 adults gather in the church sanctuary and pray for the church and its members among other things.
   
This prayer-only service was added at the church after Norris attended a prayer conference in Georgia. He took ideas from the conference and adapted it to suit Union Hill.
   
“When we get on our faces before God and ask Him to work, He does,” said the Hueytown native. “Several other churches in and around the area have begun houses of prayer.”
   
God’s guidance is apparent in Union Hill’s transformation from a small community church to a place of worship that is making a presence in the Bessemer area. Two years ago, Union Hill had 600 members, now it has 910. Sunday School attendance has grown from about 110 to 300, and the worship service audience has increased from 130 to about 600.
   
“We’ve knocked out walls and made closets into Sunday School rooms just pretty much trying to use every bit of available space as we can think of,” Norris added. “We’re getting creative with it, but we’re pretty much out right now.”
   
To accommodate the church’s rapidly growing youth attendance, the church will begin building a new 14,000 square foot preschool and children’s education building in the near future.
   
Norris is excited and inspired by the success of the FAITH training and house of prayer. He plans to continue encouraging his members to get involved in ministry and reaching out to the unchurched.
   
“We want to make sure that we can take advantage of the opportunities handed to us and do the things He wants us to do,” Norris said.