Twenty-two members of the first African American Southern Baptist missions church at Nicholls and Living Waters Church met on Sunday March 3 in the Baptist Collegiate Ministry building. The church, a missions church sponsored by University Baptist Church in Thibodaux and other churches in the surrounding area, is the first evangelical church formed at Nicholls, and is the only African American Southern Baptist church in Thibodaux.

The closest African American Southern Baptist church is located in Houma, Jim Duck, pastor of University Baptist Church, said.

“Down the years, there have been a lot of African Americans that have been looking for a church home and they have been requesting a church on campus. Through prayer and a vision God gave several years ago, it has become a reality,” Tim Lafleur, director of the BCM, said.

“It’s been exciting to see how it has come together. This is something that if we had tried to do it on our own, it would have never happened. It’s something God put together with us,” Lafleur said.

The Rev. Alfred Carter, pastor of Living Waters Church, has been meeting with students on Wednesday nights in the BCM building for nearly a year and a half while holding Bible studies, worship and prayer services.

“Rev. Carter has been doing a great job on those Wednesday nights. He has really set the standard (for the church),” Duck said.

Lafleur said he (Carter) and Duck have been praying and planning for the church to become a reality because of a shortage in African American churches in the area.

“Within a 5-mile radius of Nicholls, there are about 12,000 African Americans and we didn’t have a church for them. We’ve been praying for God to open the door, and we feel like this is the time,” he said.

“I wouldn’t toot my horn and say we (BCM) were involved. We just prayed and began to see that this was something that was needed, so we offered the building as a place where they can assemble,” Lafleur said.

Since the BCM is a student organization and not an actual church, Lafleur said he encourages students to get involved with a local church. He said another reason Living Waters Church was birthed was because of students who felt uncomfortable in some of the local churches.

Although Duck expects the church to make an impact on Nicholls students, he said he hopes it will evolve into a community church.

“Nicholls students are encouraged and welcomed, but we also want too see it become a family church. There are already families in the community that have a (desire) to be involved in the new (church). They are part of something that is distinct, unique and different,” Lafleur said.

“I see the church going in the right direction. We have a good man as pastor – one who has a (desire) for students and family,” Lafleur said.

Once Living Waters is able to support itself financially, Duck said, they are planning to become an individual church at their own location.

“Everyone is welcome. It’s not just for African Americans. It is part of our ethnic mission, and prayerfully, God will do the multicultural thing and it will be a tremendous testimony,” Lafleur said.

In addition to the sponsorship of University Baptist Church and support of other area churches, the new church is also supported by the Louisiana Baptist Convention, the statewide association of more than 1,800 Baptist churches, which is located in Alexandria.