Pastor Justin Nelson said before he arrived at Camden Baptist Church, a group of women was meeting regularly in the church nursery to pray for God to fill the room with babies again.

“And the Lord has done that,” Justin said. “We went from literally no children to going, ‘Hey, we’ve got to have help in the nursery.’”

This has been happening as part of a church revitalization process with support provided by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. Rob Jackson, director of the SBOM Office of Evangelism & Church Revitalization, and George Yates, former SBOM church health strategist, have mentored Justin over the past couple of years, and Justin said it’s been a huge encouragement.

“One of the reasons I wanted to do the church revitalization process was to get coaching,” Justin said. “Whether you’ve been leading the church or a student ministry or worship ministry, whether it’s been for one year or 50 years, you can always learn more.”

Camden Baptist, which was averaging about 50 in worship when Justin arrived, now runs more than 160 on Sunday mornings.

Rob said it’s a “tremendous amount of growth, and we just praise the Lord.”