Unity Baptist sees record baptisms, renewed growth in LaGrange

LaGRANGE, Ga. — For the past four months, a fire has been lit for the gospel at Unity Baptist Church in LaGrange, Ga.

“In four months, we have had many additions. The church has gone from 35 to 40 in January to 80 to 84 on Sunday mornings,” said interim senior pastor Brian Fossett. “We’ve got visitors coming every week.” 

By January 2026, attendance is expected to be 115 or 120. The church has added three Sunday school classes in four months. There have been 25 salvations and 22 baptisms in four months. That’s the highest number of baptisms in a year in the church’s 128-year history. “God is really moving. God has had His hand on the church,” said Fossett, who began as interim in April 2025.

A few weeks ago, Fossett said, a five-year-old and his parents were baptized. “We’ve had some special things.”

On Aug. 24, 12 new church members lined up at the altar and a young high school student was baptized as her teenage brother and other family members watched. The brother was saved that day and was baptized Aug. 31 along with four others. On Aug. 27, two people were saved during their weekly children’s program.

“We’ve had everybody from older people, younger people and all races. It’s just phenomenal what God’s doing. God has really been blessing it.”

Steve Foster,  evangelism catalyst for the  Georgia Baptist Mission Board, believes the church will keep growing. “They have caught a vision of how they can grow and can see people saved.”

Church growth is being driven by mass evangelism, such as revivals and other events throughout the year, as well as a focus on Sundays.

The church was expecting between  50 to 75 people to show up for its Men’s Night event in August, but 150 attended. The next morning, Chris McDaniel led music for the opening of revival and Foster gave the message. The revival averaged 83 attendees.

McDaniel is the former keyboard player for the country music group Confederate Railroad, and now serves as a music evangelist.

“By all accounts, it was the best revival the church has ever had,” said Fossett. He said everyone at the revival, including older folks, was on their feet, praising God. “It’s been a mighty outpouring of God’s spirit,” said Fossett. 

Fossett believes revivals are important. “I believe in evangelists. I am one. I have been one. I believe in using evangelists.”

Fossett recalls former evangelist, professor, and interim president for the North American Mission Board, Roy Fish, saying revivals work when people do. “I’m a strong believer in that. We have to have our people working and praying.”

Fossett added that the key to a successful revival is preparation. “If you plan them and put them on the calendar, they are going to be successful. If you call somebody and put it on the calendar, but you don’t pray, promote, plan, and do the work, you’re still going to have decisions, but not near the decisions that you could have had.”

Church members had altar training before the revival. “Billy Graham said that 45% of the effectiveness of a meeting is preparation. He always had counselors come on the first invitation verse, and that gave people the courage to step out with their decisions. Then, he said 45% of the effectiveness is the preservation, which is plugging them into Sunday school and into your church and getting them involved. We’ve done a pretty good job with that. And, only 10% of the effectiveness is the actual preaching,” said Fossett.

Prior to the revival, the congregation wrote down the names of 10 people who needed Christ and brought them to the altar for prayer. “Everybody is praying for souls. Everybody is praying for God to continue to move. There has been just a spirit of unity. We’ve been really trying to live up to our name. We’ve really worked hard on being unified on the gospel message.”

Taking the gospel outside the four walls, spending time in prayer, and focusing on people being saved and baptized are impacting the church culture. “They are caring if people get saved and get baptized, and not just join the church. They are impacting the kingdom.”

Fossett said God has blessed the church, and the process has been easy. “Everything I have thrown out as vision, they have gotten behind, and they’ve been supportive. The church has been on fire, and everybody is celebrating what God is doing.  Celebrating every soul.”

Focusing on the gospel is Fossett's growth strategy. He hopes Unity sees the urgency of getting out the gospel and being fishers of men. “In all the segments of our lives, if we are sharing the gospel and have gospel conversations, eventually, people are going to be saved.”

Foster said seeing a church the size of Unity grow, which had seen a decline in recent years, is encouraging to other pastors. Foster was impressed with the enthusiasm and excitement at the church when he spoke at the revival. Foster said LaGrange is a growing area with homes being built and things happening, and Fossett is casting a vision for this growth. 

Foster, who has known Fossett for over 20 years, said leadership has made a huge difference in a short time. “Everything rises and falls on leadership. Brian is a very enthusiastic person and has been since I’ve known him. I think with him behind the pulpit and also behind the scenes with people, he is a great encourager.” 

Foster commented that Fossett’s travels as an evangelist allowed him to see what could be improved with such things as small groups and music. An example would be the Sunday morning service flow, including how they do the invitation and also how the greeters and ushers interact with people.

Foster also said creating excitement through events such as revivals and women’s events is key to church growth, and Unity has done this well in the past six months. When he was there in August, the woman’s event was promoted by asking members to pray specifically for people they knew who needed to be at the conference, especially ladies who were unchurched or lost."

Foster said events are just one part of a larger church-wide ministry focus, which is leading to church growth. “[Brian] is looking at everything they do on Sundays and whatever they are doing during the week, and how that leads to fulfilling the Great Commission of winning lost people and making disciples.”