By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
QUITMAN, La. (LBM) – Shortly after Jason Womack arrived as pastor with Beech Springs Baptist Church, he and other members of a men’s prayer group made a “dream list” of prayer concerns and took those requests to the Lord.
Fifteen months later, the church has seen God answer those prayers through personal revival, lives transformed and a rise in baptisms, including 16 since January.
“There just seems to be true revival taking place in individuals and in the church at large,” Womack told the Baptist Message. “God is moving through this church and in this community just like we are praying about.
“I know it’s not me,” he continued. “All I’m doing is preaching the Gospel, loving on people, sharing the Gospel. But I’m not the only one. Others are sharing the Gospel. God is moving through our
church, and He is using the church to build His Kingdom.”
Womack, now 51, was a member of BSBC until he was 34 years old and returned as pastor in May 2022. When he arrived, the church had baptized just a handful the previous year.
He sensed the church’s hunger for growth and believed God had something special in store for BSBC and the community.
“When I met with the pulpit committee, I saw a hunger from them not to try to look at the past and what they used to be,” he said. “The pulpit committee and a lot of the church had a desire to be what God wants them to be.
“I knew coming in with an older congregation you have to be cautious,” he continued. “I have an Apostle Paul mentality that we have to make disciples and train them up. It was instilled in me 20 years ago when I was a member here at the Beech and because I had experienced it before, I knew the church had the ability to experience a revival once again.”
Womack said he appreciated the value that programs bring, however he believed BSBC needed a movement of the Holy Spirit to revive them.
“I came in, started doing some evaluations, asking questions and checking the temperature of the church as a whole,” he said. “We have gone through and tried programs. When I came here, I didn’t want to just have a program. I wanted to encourage the people to step out and do what God has called us to do – love one another, invite people to church, and when they get here, we try to get them to stay so we can train them up.”
Three months after he became pastor with BSBC, he and other members began to pray for God to move at the church.
That watershed moment came when Drew and Holly Maxwell along with their newborn daughter, Opal, attended the Easter 2023 morning worship service. Womack said God has used that couple to breathe new life in the church.
Thirteen new believers were baptized over the next eight months and members began to embrace the church’s outreach efforts: creation of a visitor’s welcome packet; an outdoor basketball court and children’s playground that are open to the community; reintroduction of the “Experiencing God” discipleship study; and a BeechCombers Wednesday evening service that includes a church-wide meal and worship time before breaking into age-appropriate classes for Bible study.
Drew Maxwell said he and his wife periodically attended Goldonna Baptist Church, where Womack previously pastored, and decided they needed to find a church home in early 2023.
Though he was a Christ follower, Maxwell had not followed through with baptism. Through the encouragement of Womack, he was baptized May 2.
“God brought us to the Beech, and I tell my wife every Sunday we leave there that ‘I am glad we found this church,’” he said. “I am a lot more at peace now and am growing through the sharpening of godly men who pour into me.”
Jessica Droddy is among those who have been baptized in the last 12 months.
She attended BSBC on Oct. 4 and understood her need for a Savior. Four weeks later she was baptized alongside her husband, Todd. Their daughter, Sophie, was baptized several weeks later.
Jessica then felt led to give back, and so she helped create welcome packets that are distributed to visitors who come for Sunday worship.
“I wanted the opportunity to show guests that we love them and want them back,” she said. “Being a part of the church has changed every perspective I have ever had on life. I can walk into church knowing that God has it under control and I don’t have to worry about tomorrow.”
