By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Casey Williamson was at a spiritual crossroads in early 2023.
A former professional baseball player, Williamson had hung up his glove and spikes to serve with Campus Outreach, which hosts student ministries on more than 100 campuses in 10 countries. As the years passed, Williamson and his wife, Jill, saw fruit at Louisiana State University, Southeastern Louisiana and University of Louisiana at Lafayette but had gotten to a point where their passion had grown more to minister to students who had graduated and now had families of their own. Williamson knew he had been called to be a pastor and that God had him there to prepare for this next step.
After a season of prayer, Williamson and the other leaders of the sending church, Christ Covenant Church in Baton Rouge, were approached by Trinity Baptist Church in the city with another to donate their facility while its congregation remained in the building for weekly worship. The aging congregation had dwindled in worship attendance (from 60 in 2019 to 20 in 2023) and sought the Lord to use another church to reach the community for Christ.
After a series of conversations with the leadership of Trinity, Williamson believed this was where God was moving. On May 5, 2024, Goodwood Community Church was born.
“We exist to be a city on the hill and be salt and light to let our community know there’s something special happening here,” Williamson told the Baptist Message. “God has made us to worship Him and be a light that shines far brighter than what our community has seen before. Our prayer and vision is that people from different areas and backgrounds would feel the love of Christ and find answers to questions they are seeking. Our desire is that people would come to Christ who are young and old, and come to a place where they can mature in the faith and then impact others.”
Since the church began with a launch team of 47, attendance for Sunday worship has grown to more than 100 and nine have been baptized, according to Williamson. Moreover, 70 percent of GCC is comprised of families with young children.
Williamson said GCC has found creative ways to become a city on a hill.
Each week, discipleship groups and Bible studies meet throughout Baton Rouge to enhance the opportunity to reach out to neighbors who have a need for Christ.
One church family has hosted a jazz concert in their backyard, leading to one young couple coming to Christ and being baptized. Others have begun to hold home-based Bible studies with their neighbors.
Additionally, GCC hosted a men’s prayer breakfast, fall festival, an Easter Egg hunt in partnership with the neighborhood property owners’ association and recently their first Kids Club drew more than 50 children from the community.
Williamson said he is thankful for the Georgia Barnette Louisiana Missions Offering, which provided funds to help them add bathroom facilities, install flooring and update the foyer of their facility.
“We, at Goodwood Community Church, are so very grateful to the churches in our state that give through the GBO,” he said. “They are helping advance the kingdom of God and facilitate the preaching of the Gospel in our area of the state and beyond.”
Named for the first executive director of Louisiana Baptists’ Woman’s Missionary Union, the Georgia Barnette Louisiana Missions Offering’s Month of Prayer is set for Sept. 1-30, with a goal of raising $1.8 million.
